The Next Chapter
by bakane
Summary: Ch. 55: Assigned with their first solo mission at Beacon Academy, team RWBY runs eagerly towards an old swamp village, expecting nothing less than Grimm-infested waters, the thrills of unexplored territories, and of course, mortal peril. [A collection of short stories, one-shots, and AUs.]
1. I Am Nothing Without You

**Title:** I Am Nothing Without You

 **Song Prompt:** With Me by Sum 41

 **Genre:** Friendship/Drama/Angst/One-shot

 **Characters:** Blake, Yang, Adam, Ruby, Weiss

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee, White Rose

 **Synopsis:** After a year and several months at Beacon, a mission goes awry, and the team finds themselves captured in unknown territories. In hopes of escaping, Blake is forced to face the man from her past, whose very being has come to symbolize her worst mistakes, her unending fears, and her ever-present doubts.

* * *

 _"Thoughts read, unspoken, forever in vow.  
And pieces of memories fall to the ground.  
I know what I didn't have, so I won't let this go.  
'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you._

 _All the streets, where I walked alone,_  
 _with nowhere to go, have come to an end._

 _I want you to know_  
 _with everything, I won't let this go._  
 _These words are my heart and soul._  
 _I'll hold on to this moment, you know._  
 _As I bleed my heart out to show._  
 _And I won't let go."_

* * *

Dreadful fear filled at her bones. A thick clot formed in the middle of her throat as her body refused to let her breathe. Her senses, heightened with mortal peril, took over her. Clouding her judgment, all she perceived for a moment was the unpleasant, musty scent of blood, mixed with ash and gunpowder. It was all too familiar.

"Blake," a deep voice resonated from behind.

She froze at her name. The only response she gave was an ever slight twitch from her black bow.

A shiver moved down her spine, but Blake didn't think it had anything to do with the man's sword, pressing against the back of her head. No, it was the way he had said her name. Neutral, perhaps, to those who were confined in the room. But not to Blake. She had always been good at reading his mood. His, and perhaps nobody else's. It was almost wistful to her ears.

"Adam..." Her mouth opened slowly to speak. The word felt wrong as it rolled off of her tongue. It was rusty like it had dulled over the past year.

"It's been too long." The nostalgic gloom in his voice was evident now, and it was all it took for the dam inside to break. A flood of emotions coursed through, all of her guilt and pain rushing back inside her.

She had made the right decision by leaving. She knew that. Yet the certainty of her actions had always been questioned when she thought of him. His hand outstretched towards her. In vain, but still a feeble attempt to ask her to stay. A sense of betrayal manifested in the way he stood. His arms fell to his side, lifelessly, as he watched the distance grow between them. Blake knew he had the power to chase her down if he truly wanted to. But he had allowed for her to slip away from him unnoticed. He had given her the opportunity, to sever the ties that bonded them. Deep down, he must have understood too, that they could no longer be together in this bloody revolution he had started.

And so she took it. With a heavy heart, in a swift but painful motion, she had detached the caboose. Unlike the train that left, that forlorn look on his face was etched into her memories forever.

It was for this very reason that Blake chose not to dwell on the past.

But running away was no longer an option for her.

She quickly assessed her surroundings, searching for an escape plan that never came to mind. They were trapped in a small chamber. She had woken up to her teammates, handcuffed and gagged in front of her. Ruby was leaning against the wall, her eyelids shut. Yang and Weiss were slanted against each other, conscious, though both not free to move or talk.

Her only option would be to face him. Blake looked up into the worried eyes of her partner. The fire in Yang's eyes seemed to be speaking to her silently: "Be careful." Blake didn't say anything in reply. It would be wrong to make a promise she wouldn't be able to keep.

It took all her willpower to turn around and face the man whom she had deserted. Amber eyes gazed up to the white Grimm mask, staring down at her in passivity.

"It has," Blake said simply, knowing well that speaking too much would give away her disguise.

Adam's lips were pressed together, forming a thin line. Slowly, the blade of his weapon retracted, back into its sheath.

She moved her eyes away from his sword and warily began to observe his face. The mask, trailing down from his forehead to his nose, effectively hid any sort of emotions he may be feeling at the time. The slits of his mask were too dark to discover anything lurking underneath.

Blake knew that look too well. After all, she used it regularly herself. Her own mask, carefully emptied of all emotions, was taught by the very man before her; a weakness they knew better than to flaunt. It was something she learned from experience, from her childhood protests to her violent adolescence. Even when she could salvage peace, it was hard to break old habits.

If Adam had not spoken before, Blake could have easily mistaken him for a corpse. But cracks were already beginning to surface. The calm manner of his stance slowly shifted as the period of silence grew longer. Blake waited patiently, watching as he stole a few glances at the others. Finally, his rage began to break through.

"How could you, Blake?" Adam growled, the anger quick to rise inside him. "You deserted us. You left everything behind. And for what? To associate yourself with...with these humans?"

He gestured towards Yang and the others in outright disgust. His eyes lingered on Weiss more so than the others, and the heiress, though injured, refused to break under his vindictive glare.

"Humans," he continued to snarl, hostility clear upon his face. "Associating yourself with them is a treacherous act to our kind! And not just with any human! You are identifying with a _Schnee._ "

Weiss stiffened in response. She knew it would be brought up sooner or later. When Adam peered down at her, his eyes gleamed in nothing but bloodthirst. _Of course,_ she tried her best to look as unfazed as possible. Her family's notorious reputation followed her around like a shadow. She was taught, almost as a second instinct, to detest and mistrust the Faunus. A part of her saw the injustice behind her father's company.

But the loss of a normal childhood pulled her back from ever properly socializing with a Faunus. In truth, Blake was the first Faunus she had ever "befriended" in her life.

Although the two had warmed up to each other considerably during their first year at Beacon, their relationship had always been more careful than others. Restrained, and at times, solely diplomatic. Before Weiss had found out about Blake's past, and her cat ears, she was clueless as to why the girl was habitually reserved towards her. Once the secret was out, every withdrawn gesture, alert glares, and wary glances were explained. And at first, paranoia grabbed Weiss by the hand, clouding any rational judgment. It took several hours of searching for the runaway Faunus before Weiss forced herself to listen to reason, and to at least give the enigmatic girl the benefit of her doubt. She tried, with eyes not spoiled by suspicion, and noticed.

It became clear to her that each distant motion hadn't been just for _her_ but for everyone else as well. And she could see it now: that desperation, proven through the need to wear a little black bow, whether it be night or day. Weiss understood, for once in her life, that she wasn't the only victim of the war. And with that came guilt and more empathy than Weiss ever imagined she could have towards a Faunus.

"They're my friends," Blake stated adamantly, snapping the heiress out of her thoughts. "Weiss is my friend. She isn't responsible for what her father's company has done to our kind."

Blake took a second to steal a glance towards Weiss, giving her a look of convincing verification. Yang felt a small shudder to her right, watching Weiss visibly relax at her partner's words.

The moment was cut short as Adam let out yet another aggravated growl.

"Why did you leave, Blake?" His rage diverted himself to a different, yet crucial, topic. "Why would you leave _me_?"

"I had to," Blake replied quietly. "The White Fang was turning to unnecessary bloodshed. You were turning the White Fang towards violence and vengeance-"

"Unnecessary bloodshed?" Adam echoed her words, sounding thunderstruck. "Blake, humanity deserves it after the years of servitude we had to endure."

"No, Adam. You're wrong." Blake glared up at him with determination. "Spilling more blood won't end a century-old war. That's never the solution."

"It's the _only_ solution!" Adam began to shout. "The old leader of the White Fang was foolish enough to think that equality could be achieved through peace and unity. Faunus and humans will never get along! The only way we can get what we want is through force!"

"It can be achieved!" She pressed, albeit more unsteadily than her prior answers. "We just need to try harder!"

"You're still a youthful optimist, Blake. You always have been." A hollow laughter escaped from Adam's lips, scoffing at the naiveté of his former partner. "When are you going to stop living inside a fairy tale?"

Blake cringed, the unexpected truth of his words jabbing at her like daggers.

"You know better than to hope that your dreams will ever come true." He paused. "But I can make it happen," he said as he took a bold step towards her, his chest rising with false pride and confidence. "The White Fang has already made so much progress-"

"Progress?" Blake repeated, sounding incredulous. With equal exertion in her steps, she fiercely walked forward, closing the gap between them to barely a meter. Her prior resolution to keep this conversation calm and civil flew out of the window. " _What_ progress? You're only strengthening the image of the Faunus being mindless, bloodthirsty terrorists! Humanity hasn't granted us more equality out of love or respect, Adam. It has been granted to us out of fear! Equality established through terror will never last!"

"At least I've been inspiring change amongst our people!" Adam stopped her, grabbing both her arms as he advanced. Amber eyes widened at the accusation, and Blake took a step backward in instinctive fear. "What have you been doing since you left the White Fang?"

"I..." But words failed Blake, as her mind drew a complete blank. The sickening sense of guilt held her heart once more, latching on like a parasite.

"What is it that you _really_ do? You hide yourself among humans. You've become a slave! A traitor!" Adam swung her around with force. "You dream of a future where humans and Faunus can get along? But how do you plan to do that when you don't even believe it yourself! You are nothing but a lying _hypocrite_."

"I am _not_ a hypocrite!" Blake denied as she pulled herself up. But the trembling doubt in her voice betrayed her, exposing her wounds for the beast's final attack. The back of her feet thumped against the wall.

"Then why do you still wear that bow?"

The boiling rant grew to its climax and fizzled out with an uneasy silence.

Adam had stopped in his tracks, his angry breaths slowly becoming more level.

Muffled grunts filled the air as Yang twisted and turned on the ground. She pulled vigorously at the handcuffs on her hands, desperately wishing to reach her partner, to comfort her, and equally wanting to punch the life out of the man in front of her. With her head lowered, Blake's face was unreadable, eyes shadowing out the world. But her bow was drooping towards the floor – a sign of deep hurt that Yang had only recently begun to recognize.

"I know you, Blake. Better than anyone," Adam whispered, the volume of his words mirroring the stillness of the room. "You never took that thing off, even as an operative in the White Fang. You've always been afraid. And that fact still hasn't changed."

The temperature in the room rose by several degrees. Weiss shifted nervously, trying to make contact with Yang to calm her down. But all efforts to soothe the blonde normally ended with disastrous and unsuccessful results. Desperate, Weiss looked behind her, moving her neck in an uncomfortable angle. Ruby, one of the few who could effectively calm Yang, was still lying unconscious against the wall.

Blake couldn't find anything to say. She couldn't even will herself to look up, to face Adam's anger. She couldn't dare look at Yang, who was undoubtedly staring at her and Adam in a fit of mixed rage and concern. She was afraid to stare into Yang's eyes, and see that undying love and support her partner always selflessly offered. Because this time, she would see nothing else but her own cowardice being reflected back. No, her eyes remained fixed on the floor, grounded down by the weight of Adam's words.

"You're just a stray, waiting for _something_ to come around and find you, to accept you for who you are. But did you think that hiding behind a bow, training to become a huntress, would erase who you are? Do you really think that if they knew what you've done in the past, they would accept you as a true friend?" Adam hissed. His hands moved up in the air and pulled at the edges of her bow. In one quick motion, her ears were granted freedom from their binds.

"They aren't your friends, Blake." There was a short pause before Adam continued. "They may have you thinking you're allies, maybe even teammates. But that's because they need you for now. They are using you for your skills and knowledge of the White Fang operations."

A nervous whimper escaped from Weiss as she slid away from Yang. The blonde had become fiery enough to burn.

The heiress pushed herself with her tied legs, trying to etch closer to the back wall. Ruby looked to be out, though there were no visible injuries. Weiss tugged at her partner's sleeve, her cuffed hands struggling uncomfortably behind her back. A few shakes, but nothing. Though disheartened, Weiss refused to stop, pulling harder with every turn, until she finally heard that small familiar grunt. Ruby's eyes slowly opened, meeting Weiss's stare of icy blue.

"Weiss?" Ruby tried to say, but it came out as nothing more than an incomprehensible groan through the tape over her mouth.

Weiss simply shook her head, motioning towards Yang and the pair standing several meters away from them.

Adam gently grazed his fingers over Blake's ears. Sensitive as they were, they shivered under his touch.

"Once this is over, they will turn their backs on you. Just like everybody else you know," Adam said. His words were a pulled hand grenade. It landed in the middle of the room, waiting seconds before a detonation.

Even with the few feet of distance, Weiss could feel the heat. Yang was smoldering, steam rising from her head and her hair. Ruby scuffled on the floor. Even with little knowledge of the situation, she sensed the gravity of the situation. She knew that nothing ended well when her older sister was pushed _this_ far over the edge. Ruby saw the handcuffs around her sister, glowing in bright red. They looked different. The edges were morphing steadily. They were _melting._

Adam drew closer to Blake's face; the pair, oblivious to the scene unfolding behind them.

"Except me. I have always been there for you," Adam whispered in a gentle undertone. His right hand traveled downwards, and this time softly touched Blake's chin. With little effort, he lifted her face.

Her eyes had dulled, Yang noticed. It was clouded by some inscrutable emotion, creating an unsettling look of the dead.

The binds around her wrists broke away like toothpicks.

"Come back to the White Fang, Blake. This is where you truly belong."

And then, the flame went berserk.

The degree of the blaze caught Adam by surprise, but he managed to dodge the large cannon of fire charging towards him. The fiery fist smashed into the wall instead, leaving a deep large dent. Blake dropped to the floor, narrowly missing the hit. Her figure stayed crumpled there, legs not moving and her head bent downwards.

But Yang wasn't looking at her partner anymore. Her hand retracted from the wall, harshly ripping off the tape over her mouth.

"Take that back."

She went for another deafening tackle as Adam moved out of the way. Yang swung around quickly to her side, abruptly catching him in the stomach with her loaded punch. He was sent flying, smashing across the chamber wall, and before he could even register his injuries, strong fingers grasped his neck in a deadly grip.

"You take that back right now!" Yang roared in absolute fury, smashing a punch directly across the man's face this time.

Adam frowned at the taste of blood in his mouth. His lips curled in distaste. Perhaps he had underestimated the power of this particular human.

With the flash of an eye, his sword shot out of the barrel of its sheath. The back handle of the blade smashed against the blonde, who managed to block the hit just in time with her gauntlets. Taking this opportunity, Adam grabbed the hilt of his weapon in the air and lashed out with dangerous speed. Yang crashed headfirst into the wall, falling to the ground with a loud thud. She pulled herself up with shaky hands and looked down at the front of her attire. A large slash mark was present on her jacket. A thin, long line of red trailed underneath the tear. Even with her aura to protect her, Adam's attack had been powerable enough to cut through.

Adam swished forward, his slashes becoming blurs of red and black. With little time to recover, Yang found herself on the defense – Ember Cecilia, being rendered useless as speed overwhelmed her.

A gasp of pain escaped Yang's lips, as her gauntlets failed to block a harsh hit. Her body flung backward again, landing a short distance away from Ruby. The blood now clearly visible on her sister's torso, Ruby felt the panic rise inside her.

Urgency grew inside Weiss as well. She tore her eyes away from the blonde and looked around the room for answers. Her eyes widened as she found that her and Ruby's weapon were settled against the wall in the corner of the room, just a couple of feet away from her left. Adam was distracted, but Yang wouldn't hold for much longer. Weiss dropped to her sides and began to crawl, but with caution. She would have to be fast.

"Blake belongs with us," Yang growled. It took much more effort to get back on her feet, but she forced her aching body to take another battle stance. Adam scoffed in response, and with that, power returned to her veins.

"She is our _friend!_ " Yang ducked under his next attack and threw her fists in front of him, landing a short uppercut across his left cheek.

" _Our_ teammate!" A jab to the right shoulder.

"My _partner!_ " A fast launch to the other shoulder.

"She is...my everything!" Words spilled out of her before she could stop them. A final pound to the chest and Adam was forced to fall behind, creating an appropriate distance between him and the blonde. He could feel throbbing aches across his body, blackening and discoloring.

"So don't you _dare_ tell her otherwise!" Yang shouted viciously, an air of finality carried in her last words. A full-blown silence greeted her. Adam simply stared at her with an unreadable expression. Weiss stopped moving too, watching the man carefully before eyeing Myrtenaster, which was just inches away from her now. Another push and she would be able to knock it down and grab the rapier by its handle.

"I can see now that you're the one who poisoned Blake's mind." Adam scowled. "I'll cut you down and take her back by force if I have to."

Yang stormed onward in reply, fists raised, ready to strike. Simultaneously, Weiss lunged forward, and her rapier clanked as it fell onto the floor. Her neck felt strained as she tried to look at her weapon over her shoulders. Her fingers carefully reached down and slipped it underneath her fingers. A whirling mechanic sound was heard as the dust chamber revolved into action.

Movement hadn't been a shared activity in the room. Ruby's eyes were fixed, in horror, on her older sister. And for the last minute or so, Blake had been stuck in a debilitating trance. Staring down at the empty ground, eyes blinking listlessly, she simmered in self-loathing and disgust. Adam's words ricocheted inside her, affecting her more so than she would admit to anyone. She hated how vulnerable he made her feel. As if she were a child again, crying in some dingy corner of an alleyway. A frail eight-year-old, kneeling down in wet dirt, clinging onto a poorly-made picket sign where the ink had been wiped away by rain and tears. She was weak. She was alone.

Then, she began to hear the roars of thunderous screams. Her ears flattened at the volume. She caught the words "friend" and "partner," not realizing that Yang had been saying the words in association to her, until the point where she heard the groundbreaking declaration that _she_ , Blake Belladonna, was in fact, _everything_ to Yang Xiao Long.

At those words, Blake couldn't help but gaze up. Amber eyes found the source of her liberating voice.

Yang had looked better. The front of her clothes was glazed with blood. The smell of singed clothing stung her nose. But the mass of Yang's hair continued to shine gold, glowing in the lightest tone of yellow Blake had ever seen in her life.

Of course, the expression on Yang's face interrupted any further admiration on Blake's part.

To say that Yang appeared furious would be a major understatement. Red eyes indicated that solely anger was fueling Yang forward, keeping her blind to the fact that Adam had long since put away his weapon into its barrel. His hand persisted, however, keeping a firm grip on the hilt of his sword. And Blake knew exactly why.

He was buying time, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

Yang was too distracted to observe the details. But Blake saw it. Between the blurs Adam left behind, as he smoothly avoided the blonde's attacks, she saw it: a chilling smirk.

With a piercing cry, Yang heaved all the energy she accumulated into one last punch. Adam's feet rooted themselves to the ground, for the first time since the fight began. His shoulders hunched as he braced himself. A short glimmer and he had started to pull out his sword. Blake opened her mouth to warn, but she was too late. Incontrovertibly, Yang's fist made contact with the side of Adam's blade. An explosive sound erupted in the room as energy clashed with an unannounced steel surface. His blade withdrew, power resonating in its vessel.

The pattern on Adam's robes turned red. The fringes of his hair were quick to mirror the act. Yang took a step back in severe confusion, lowering her guard for just a brief second. But a second was all that Adam ever needed.

A burst of red light shot out of Adam's sheath. Yang held up her arms in defense, mustering as much aura as she can to hold up the attack. But during the short period of panic and fear, she saw the man grimace. His fingers stiffened for a slight moment. The angle of Adam's blade twisted in an odd fashion and Yang felt the wind whip past her left ear as the fatal attack missed her by an inch.

Relief was cut short as Yang tilted her head and saw a scene that made her blood curl. Adam's aim had been off, _very_ off.

Time seemed to slow as she watched. The streak of red descended towards the place of its new soon-to-be victim, the spot where Ruby Rose presently lay.

"Ruby!" The violet color returned to Yang's eyes, staring at her sister in utmost terror. Her words were defeated and drowned by a deafening explosion. Yang was forced to close her eyes as dust and wind surged outwards from the position where her little sister once was.

A blank silence followed afterward. Yang swung her arms violently in the air, scattering the clouds away and squinting her eyes to identify any signs of life. To her immense relief, she could make out two figures in the haze.

Weiss stood in the midst of the now rescinding frenzy, breathing heavily and coughing. Her white hair and pristine clothing acquired a coat of metallic dust. Other than that, she looked perfectly fine, and so did the girl she carried in her arms. Ruby, who was cuddled up in Weiss's embrace, simply stared up at the heiress, completely dumbfounded by what had just happened. Her left hand was gripping onto Myrtenaster, the blade of which was still holding a red-heated glow.

The wall, unfortunately, did not survive Adam's attack. Taking a direct hit, it had disintegrated into the air. The large opening in the chamber revealed a huge clearing, a cavern, where containers of stolen dust were stacked neatly in piles. Weiss speculated that they were being held captive in some underground lair of the White Fang.

Ruby struggled, and understanding the girl's long endured discomfort, Weiss set her down, slashed the cuffs away, and removed her gag.

Their leader burst out a loud gasp and breathed in a mouthful of fresh air. In a flash, she hugged Weiss, who reluctantly accepted the gesture, before meeting her sister's relieved expression. Though Ruby's grin was short-lived, notwithstanding as she looked at the sight beyond her sister's shoulders.

Yang followed Ruby's stare, to the man in the Grimm mask.

She saw Adam, in the exact same spot he last stood. But his stance was stiff and rigid. The tension of his body was matched by an awfully pale, pained countenance. With a low groan, he stumbled forward, almost kneeling down on the floor, his weapon now being used to support the weight of his upper body. Blake stood directly behind him, the blade of Gambol Shroud still held tightly in her hand.

"I always knew you had it in you," Adam smiled despite himself. "To play a part in this war of ours."

Blake's face hardened at his words.

She had chosen to pick up her sword. Violence would be her last resort, but Adam had, once again, forced it out of her. She had to, Blake reasoned, when she saw Yang on the other side. For the fear of losing Yang outweighed any other doubts and fears in her life, enough to cast aside her insecurities for once and focus on an affair that actually mattered.

"So... This is the side you've chosen?" Adam asked as he slowly stood, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Blake wasn't looking at Adam either. She faced her team, one by one. Ruby was looking at her with an unnaturally mature expression she occasionally wore. It wasn't the one she was familiar with though, which was Ruby's customary assertion of confidence and leadership before charging, headfirst, into battle. This one was much softer. It was support for her teammate, pure and untainted.

Weiss's face, unlike her excessively expressive partner, lacked any notable qualities of emotion as usual. But months of working together as a team was enough for Blake to read the little signs. The way the heiress's mouth curved downwards in unease. The way her eyebrow twitched slightly in anxiety. Most of all, Blake knew that the frigid stare, which wrongfully landed Weiss with the nickname of Ice Queen, carried so much more beneath its shallow surface.

For now, Blake knew for certain that what she caught inside was a rather complicated form of reassurance. The kind that seemed to stubbornly state: "I trust that you will make the right decision. But even if you _don't_ make the right decision, I will chase you down to the ends of this kingdom and _make sur_ e you make the right decision. Don't you think for one second that I am giving up on you, Blake Belladonna!"

It wasn't gentle. It wasn't kind. It was Weiss. Hard on the outside but a caring heart within.

Blake's insides squirmed. She couldn't ignore her partner any longer. Her eyes trailed away from Weiss, before locking them securely onto Yang. There were no signs of anger left there anymore. Lilac eyes stared intently at her, in nothing but genuine worry. Blake looked at her partner with mild amusement.

Yang was undoubtedly an opened book. She had proven it so, countless times. On the day they first met, the blonde's awkwardly nervous banter had been strong enough to make Blake cringe in discomfort. At the Emerald Forest, during their initiation, Yang had been like an excited child, eagerly awaiting adventure at every turn.

Normally, Blake loved enigmas, plot-lines so thick and difficult that she had to give multiple reads to decipher. She didn't enjoy predictable stories, novels that used the typical archetypes and recycled character tropes. But there was something alluring about knowing as well – knowing that certain things would always remain there, waiting for her no matter what.

With Yang, Blake always had both.

Not a dull moment was present with the blonde. Everything was filled with movement and vitality.

She was unpredictable but reliable.

If she fell, Yang would always catch her, even if it meant they would go down together. If she were upset, she could count on Yang to crush the troubles out of her with her well-meaning, but life-threatening, hug. If she were lonely, Yang would be there for her, bringing either comfortable silence or nonstop chatter. Granted, it was usually the latter.

It soothed her spirit, the strength of Yang's presence in her life. All queries and quandaries left her body.

"It is." Blake couldn't believe she had let Adam doubt her partner even for a second. With the team, she would never be lonely again. She had found friends. They were her family by choice.

"...And you won't regret it?" Adam prodded on, his voice unchanging in pitch and without intonation.

Blake shared another glance with her friends, each one of them grinning at her soundlessly.

"I won't," Blake answered with unwavering certainty. Adam said nothing in return, his back still turned against her. There was an unspoken agreement between the two, something that they had known, but chosen to ignore since the revolution began. He sheathed his weapon, his body blurring into the shadows once more.

With a gust of wind, he was gone.

"Well..." Yang started, scratching the back of her head. "That was a thing."

"It sure was..." Blake replied back in good humor before her lips curved into an apologetic frown. "Yang... Ruby, Weiss... I'm sorry that-"

"Ah, come on." Yang hushed her with the wave of her hand. "Don't start doing that."

Her partner was wearing a playful smile, but her eyes continued to stay on Blake with an earnest gleam. "All I need to hear is that... You know that everything I said is true."

Blake grinned. "I do."

"Great! Because that's all we need to hear too!" Ruby bounded upwards. With the showering effect of rose petals, she was gone and back again, this time with Crescent Rose safely in her arms. Weiss rolled her eyes at their leader, who was practically cradling the scythe like a baby.

"We better get out of here," Blake said as she worried about her partner's injuries. "Yang, you need to get those wounds treated."

"Oh, I'm fine," Yang said in a frisky manner. "I've had worse."

"Good, because it looks like we've got some company," Weiss remarked as she pointed towards a group of armed soldiers. Several members of the White Fang were gathering around the chamber, approaching towards them in a menacing line.

Ruby gave Weiss and her teammates a short nod. "Let's do this."

Crescent Rose swished lively into the air. The whirling sound of Myrtenaster joined in. With new ammunition, Ember Cecilia came back to life.

The four bounded out of the chamber, standing side-by-side: Red, White, Black, and Yellow.

Blake took her usual place behind Yang's shadow. Gambol Shroud, now unsheathed and ready to fight.

The cat pounced into action; her black ribbon laid forgotten in the remains of the room.


	2. Once Bitten and Twice Shy (Part 1)

**Title:** Once Bitten and Twice Shy

 **Song Prompt:** Last Christmas by Wham!

 **Genre:** Family/Romance/Humor/Modern AU

 **Major Characters:** Blake, Yang, Ruby, Weiss

 **Minor Characters:** Neo, Penny, Zwei, Sun, Neptune

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee, White Rose

 **Synopsis:** Being alone and single during the holidays wasn't easy for anyone. It was particularly difficult for Yang this year, who had just received an unopened and returned Christmas present from her ex-girlfriend. Instead of a date, she'd have to opt for a night alone, living vicariously through her little sister who was closer to having a committed relationship than she ever would be. Next year, she hoped, December wouldn't suck as much.

* * *

 _"Last Christmas  
I gave you my heart  
But the very next day you gave it away._

 _This year  
To save me from tears  
I'll give it to someone special."_

* * *

It was the box. It was unmistakably _the_ box.

An unpleasant surprise hit Yang on the eve of Christmas when her little sister opened the front door of their house to pick up yesterday's mail. Ruby had returned, her legs wobbling as she carried something large and heavy in her arms. It plumped down loudly on the kitchen floor, causing a few ripples in Yang's morning coffee.

"I found this sitting outside our doorstep," Ruby said as she turned to look at her sister, who was still wearing her sweatpants and crazy morning hair. "Who do you think it's for?"

Yang stewed in silence. Oh, she knew exactly who it was for and what was inside. She didn't need to play the usual parody of "What's in the box?" with her sister before savagely attacking at the wrapping paper. No, this time she knew for certain.

After all, she had been the one to have it made. It was the same package Yang had dropped off at somebody else's doorstep just yesterday. Now, after a single night of sleep, it had returned back to her front porch, still neatly wrapped with a bow.

Yang let out a short sigh. "Don't worry about it. It's mine."

"It's yours?" Ruby asked as she tugged against the knotted ribbon. "Well, what is it?"

"Something stupid," Yang muttered in reply. She kicked the box underneath the kitchen table, taking a few tries as it refused to budge with the first two hits.

Ruby glanced between Yang and the mystery pink box but chose not to inquire any further. The grim look on Yang's face was not a common occurrence in the Xiao Long household and Ruby preferred not to press matters that would clearly upset her older sister.

"So what are your big plans for Christmas Eve?" Ruby decided to subtly change the subject. "You didn't tell me."

"I'm not so sure," Yang mumbled, before observing an odd smile settling on Ruby's face. Her cheeks were rosy with color and the corner edges of her lips were wiggling, barely containing an extraordinary amount of glee.

"And what about you?" Yang questioned, taking a sip of her coffee as she trailed her sister's bouncy movements. "You're...even cheerier than usual. And that's saying a lot."

"Well, now that you mention it… Weiss is coming over and picking me up this afternoon!" Ruby squeaked as if she were dying to tell the news since she had risen. "We were going to go out for brunch, which I'm not _too_ crazy about, but then Weiss promised that we would have dessert at this great place that has the best chocolate chip cookies ever! And then we're going to this pretty little ice rink Weiss's friend owns, though I totally don't know how to skate-"

"Okay, okay!" Yang brightened, appreciating how little to no effort was needed on Ruby's part to cheer her up. She teasingly grabbed the back of Ruby's hood, pulling it up and over the girl's head, effectively shutting up her feverish rant. "I get it. You're going to have a great time with your girlfriend."

Ruby reemerged, the color of her cheeks now a shade of scarlet. "Weiss is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"Oh really?" Yang chuckled at her sister's adorable stage of denial. "Sure, because what you just said doesn't qualify as a date, right?"

"It doesn't! I'm telling you, we're going out just as friends," Ruby explained, then added on in a low murmur, "Besides… Weiss never said she was interested in me like _that_ before."

"You're _still_ waiting for the signs?" Yang's eyes widened, stunned at the thickness of her sister's head. "Ruby, she gave you, like, a gazillion signs already! Remember when she gave you those tiny heart-shaped chocolates for your birthday? And remember, when you were sick with the flu? I had to go back to work, but who came over to our house with a full pack of beer in one hand and hot porridge in the other to save the day?"

"What?" Ruby furrowed her brows. "What beer?"

"That's not the important part," Yang said with the flick of her hand. "The point is, Weiss has been going out of her way to make those stupid little hints you keep looking for. And any _normal_ person would have gotten the message already. So if you don't want to take my word for it..."

In a flash, Yang had fished out her phone from the back pocket of her pants. "You'll have to hear it from her."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... Yang!" Ruby dove forward, watching in absolute horror as her sister dialed down a number with immense speed. Yang merely laughed, rudely shoving away her sister's face as she turned her phone to speaker mode. Despite Ruby's protests, she blasted the volume to its fullest, making sure that every word of the conversation would be clearly audible to both.

"...Hello?" A drowsy voice picked up on the other end, after multiple long-awaited dials. Ruby froze on the spot, immediately ceasing to struggle against her sister's brutish strength.

"Aw, does the Ice Queen need more beauty sleep?" Yang drawled.

"Who is this?" An irritated voice mumbled back.

"Geez, Weiss. You mean you have other people calling you the Ice Queen all the time?"

"...Yang Xiao Long, why are you calling me at such an ungodly hour?" It wasn't a question but an annoyed accusation, indicating that no reason or excuse the blonde may spew would be enough to justify her actions today.

"It's seven in the morning." Yang frowned. "It's hardly a bad time to call."

"It's seven in the morning on a Saturday...on Christmas Eve, I might add." The voice, while still groggy from sleep, never missed a beat in its lecture. "To any sane working adult on holiday, that would be the textbook definition of a bad time to call."

"Sheesh, how do you always deal with this much sass?" Yang made a fake cringe towards her younger sister, who was now burning red from anger and embarrassment. "Okay, princess. If you want me to call you later, I'll do that."

"You've already woken me up." Yang could practically hear a vein popping from across the phone line. "Now tell me. What is it that you want?"

"So I wanted to make sure that you're all set for today." Yang shot a glance towards Ruby before slyly adding: "You know, for your _date_ with my baby sister?"

There was a short pause on the other line, as both sisters listened intently for Weiss's incoming reply.

"...I am." It was a very calm and collected answer. Cutting to the chase was, in fact, the Weiss Schnee way of dealing with any important affairs. A strange high-pitched squeal escaped out of Ruby before she slammed both hands over her lips in shock.

"Oh, so you are, in fact, admitting that Miss Weiss Schnee is taking Ruby Rose, my cute but honestly a bit dorky little sister, out for a date today? For the whole day, on Christmas Eve?"

"Yes," Weiss said shortly. A hint of impatience was present in her voice again.

"I am not a dork!" Ruby mouthed furiously while shaking her arms over her head in opposition. Yang smirked as she kept her eyes fixed on Ruby, a sneaky smile drawing on her lips as she watched her sister grow redder and redder with each word. "Just to make sure, princess. Now, one more time. In case, I wasn't clear enough. You are most definitely going on a textbook definition date with Ruby, not as friends but as a quote-on-quote girl-"

"Yang. Put Ruby on the phone," Weiss demanded in a snappish manner.

"She catches on quick...unlike someone." The blonde smirked and motioned at her sister to speak. Ruby's eyes were as big as saucers now.

"Hey, Weiss! Uh... Good evening, I mean, morning! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Ruby laughed in a nervous way, trying too hard to sound intelligent. Even so, all her pitiful efforts went back to square one as Ruby frantically added in a whisper, "I was totally not listening in by the way. That weird sound in the background was Zwei. You know how he gets when we hide the treats in the top pantry and-"

"Ruby," Weiss cut through her words like a knife. "It is way too early in the morning for me to be listening to one of your infamous rants."

"Right. Sorry," Ruby mumbled sheepishly.

"Now, it has come to my attention that our relationship has been different ever since that New Year's party, where we were both hopelessly drunk," said Weiss, in an oddly diplomatic fashion. It wasn't a rare occurrence for Weiss to switch to business mode. Much like all of her other conversations with Ruby, she kept her tone stuffy but sincere.

"So, I have decided on pursuing you with full romantic intentions because I can't seem to get you out of my head, no matter how hard I try. And _believe_ _me_ , I've tried." Weiss sighed in defeat. "I'm not going to sit around in my office all day waiting any longer because, Ruby Rose, I am officially asking you to spend Christmas Eve with me this year. Not as acquaintances, not even as friends, but as two individuals ready to commence a committed relationship with each other."

The room became still, the air only filled with muffled sounds from Yang, who had the decency to cover up her face before bursting into a lengthy exclamation of delight. Honestly, the heiress was so endearing sometimes, she thought.

No other sound or movement followed, however. Ruby appeared to have entered into a light daze; her eyebrows drooped slightly and her mouth opened in awe.

"Um... Ruby?" A cough intervened. Yang's gesture shook Ruby out of her thoughts, prompting the girl to yell something, anything, into the phone.

"I'm here!" Ruby yelped, notifying the other end that she hadn't dropped the phone by accident.

"I'm sorry. Was that too forward? Would you like me to...cancel our plans?" Weiss asked, sounding thoroughly uncertain.

"Of course not!" Ruby blurted out rather quickly. "I was just surprised, that's all!"

"Surprised?" Weiss groaned. "I have sent out several meaningful indications!"

"Well, you tend to be cryptic!" Ruby rebutted loudly, though sounding not very convincing.

"I am never cryptic!" Weiss denied hotly before adding, "So you are saying yes?"

"Yes to today's date?"

"Of course, to today's date! What else would I be asking for?" Weiss yelled in exasperation.

"Your hand in marriage?" Yang coyly suggested from behind.

"Yes, I am saying yes to today's date!" Ruby shouted, not forgetting to kick her sister in the shins as she did so.

"Okay, you dunce. I'll pick you up at ten." And without hearing a reply, the heiress hung up.

"Wow. Now that was the most formal asking out I have ever heard of in my life." Yang snorted, letting out a fit of laughter she had been bottling in. "I hope she never finds out that she was on speaker phone the whole time! Man, you guys are so adorable together! The team you two would make. I can see it now, the Heiress and the Dunce. Oh! You should fight crime together!"

But Ruby wasn't listening. It didn't take long for Yang to notice the tell-tale signs of joy and ecstasy, but her emotions were quick to give away to panic and distress.

"Oh my god! Yang! I'm going on a date! With Weiss! In..." Ruby glanced over at the clock and her jaws dropped open. "In two hours and fifty-six minutes! I need to get ready!"

"Uh..." was all Yang could say, a proper reply not formulating fast enough. After all, for any normal human being, two hours and fifty-six minutes would be an excessive amount of time needed to prepare for a date.

"I have nothing to wear! I was just going to wear my reindeer hoodie and snow boots!" Ruby looked down at her current outfit in complete indignation. "But what if the restaurant she reserved dinner at is super-duper fancy? I am not prepared for that and I do not own a cocktail dress!"

"Calm down, Ruby." Yang gently pulled her sister down to the couch, patting her poor hyperventilating sister on the back. "Okay, first of all, even if this is Weiss Schnee we're talking about, all business and no fun-"

"Hey!"

"-I don't think she would have expected you to attend a suit-and-tie event with her today, so you're going to be fine without the cocktail dress," Yang cracked a joke, trying to lighten the mood. "That seems more like a fourth or fifth date kind of thing for the princess."

"But you still need to help me get ready!" Ruby continued, still jittery and anxious. "I'm not like you, Yang. I'm not just talking about having the perfect outfit or wearing the perfect makeup. I have no idea how to act on a date like you do. You're a natural! Me? I'm a joke. I always mess up when I really like someone and I really, _really_ like Weiss. What if I say all the wrong things and she changes her mind?"

"You are not a joke," Yang said firmly in response. "And if you were going to scare that girl off, I think you would have done it a lot sooner than today."

Ruby glowered at her, not following the joke.

"Remember the day you two met?" The blonde prompted, before adding in an earnest glare at the memory. "You know, the day you almost gave me a heart attack?"

* * *

 _It was a regular day at the automobile shop. The business had been solid as usual, enough to keep Yang grounded for a few respectable hours._

 _Sweating profusely, Yang worked under the sun, peering into engines of dusty, broken-down cars. Although most of her co-workers advised her to work in the shade of the garage, to avoid the worst of heat strokes, there was something about the sun that Yang enjoyed._

 _In the middle of July, however, perhaps it wasn't the best choice._

 _She slammed the hood of an old Toyota shut and stepped back into the shed for a short break. As the blonde sat down on some nearby tool boxes, she pulled her phone out from her pocket, pressing a button and buzzing it back to life._

 _Immediately, a score of notifications popped up, alerting her to a few missed calls and one recorded voice message. It had all been from Ruby, which the blonde found a bit unsettling. Her sister knew better than to try and reach her during her work hours. It would have to be an absolute emergency. A sense of uneasiness rising in her stomach, Yang slid her thumb across the screen and pressed the phone against her ear, listening nervously to the most recent voicemail._

 _"Hey, Yang! It's me. Uh... I've been in a small accident. Could you come over here and sign some forms? I'm at the hospital on..."_

* * *

"I panicked, like any older sister would." Yang shrugged with nonchalance. "But you sounded fine over the phone, so I calmed myself down and went over to the hospital to pick you up."

* * *

 _"Ruby Rose! Who taught you to leave messages like that? Been in an accident? Come and sign some forms? What the hell is wrong with you?"_

 _A few nurses scurried out of the way, cowering as a very sweaty and a very angry-looking blonde charged towards the hospital bed._

 _"Now, tell me where it hurts!" Yang roared. "Are you in any pain? Who do I need to beat up?"_

* * *

"Yeah... You took it _really_ well." Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

 _"I'm fine, sis! I swear!" Honestly, Ruby would have sounded a lot more convincing to her sister if she hadn't been lying down with her right arm bandaged into a neat cast. At the look of angry concern, Ruby reluctantly added in a small mumble, "Just a broken bone, that's all... And a minor concussion..."_

 _"Tell me what happened," Yang growled, "Now."_

 _"Okay, okay," Ruby conceded, deciding that she would have to tell the story eventually. "So, after classes, I was sitting at the Pink Lotus Ice Cream parlor ordering my usual."_

 _"Three scoops of triple fudge ice cream with extra syrup and sprinkles on top," Yang recited her sister's favorite order, no longer fazed by Ruby's ridiculously exorbitant sweet tooth._

 _"And as I was enjoying my little bowl of heaven..." Ruby paused, smacking her lips together at the memory. "In came this girl..."_

 _"Oh?" Yang ever-so-slightly cocked an eyebrow, tension steadily residing as the story began to pique her interests._

* * *

"I still remember it as clear as yesterday." Yang exhaled happily, simmering in the light of the memory. "The day my sister finally voiced her opinion...about a girl she wanted to bang."

"Yang!" Ruby aimed for another strike – this time a punch, to her sister's shoulder. "That is not what I said at all!"

"Nope!" The blonde laughed, gingerly rubbing her spot of injury. "What you said was more along the lines of..."

* * *

 _"So, this girl walks in and her entire head is white. I don't mean like old grandma white but all shiny and silky white," Ruby briefed hurriedly as if she wanted to make sure Yang was getting an accurate impression of this girl. "Anyways, she came in looking all confused since there are like a thousand different flavors to choose from at that place."_

 _"Sixteen flavors. But go on."_

 _"Well, maybe I wanted an excuse to talk to her," huffed Ruby in an annoyed fashion. "Anyways, I go up to her and give her a small tap on the shoulder. She turns around and I see that she has...the prettiest, bluest eyes I've ever seen before! So naturally, I freeze up."_

 _"Uh oh." Yang internally groaned, knowing too well that her sister's record of social interactions wasn't the best. She was nice and friendly, of course. But whenever the girl tried too hard to make a good first impression, her words came out in moron._

 _"Basically, I'm standing there, staring at her, like a complete idiot. And of course, she gets spooked by this totally creepy stranger looking at me. So she finally snaps and asks me what I want and I... I shouted anything that came to mind!" Ruby deflated, her face plummeting down onto the bed. Whatever she disclosed next came out indecipherable through the blankets._

 _"Which was?" Yang asked, waiting for a reiteration._

 _"Napkins!" Ruby resurfaced, gasping the word out like a ball of air. "In the middle of the whole store, I yelled napkins!"_

 _"And what did the girl do?" Yang asked, trying very hard not to laugh._

 _"She glared at me, for a couple of seconds. Then she grabbed the box of tissues next to her and passed it down to me."_

 _"Okay... So you got your napkins." Yang sank into the chair by her sister's bedside. "That doesn't sound too bad?"_

 _"Trust me, it gets worse," Ruby forewarned. She heaved in before continuing with a heavy heart. "After she passed me the napkins, I didn't have any excuses left to talk to her. So I was going to go back to my seat and finish up my dessert. But then, I saw the girl leaving and she forgot some of her change money on the counter. Obviously, I decided to pick it up and run after her. She didn't exactly hear me as she left, so I followed her out and..."_

 _"Go on." Yang nodded slowly, still unsure how a broken arm managed to fit itself into the equation._

 _"I may have opened the door a bit too quickly... It slammed against the wall, scaring her, and she kind of lost her balance...over some stairs." Ruby lowered her head, a mixture of shame and guilt settling in her eyes._

 _"Oh my god, Ruby." Yang gasped in horror as her mind raced to the worst possible conclusion. "Did you kill her?"_

 _"What? Of course not! I caught her before she fell down! ...But uh... I couldn't exactly find my own footing either." Ruby pointed towards her injured arm. "Hence, the cast."_

 _A face-palm was in order as Yang squeezed the bridge of her nose. "So… Where is she now?"_

 _"Ahem." A fine noise brought the attention of the two._

 _Yang turned her head to see an attractive young woman enter the room, dressed in a white blouse and tight jeans. Ruby's description had been essentially correct; Yang noticed her white hair, pulled back into a long ponytail draping over her shoulders. And indeed, a pair of electric blue eyes gazed over at them. She was of a petite stature, though the way she held herself, back straight and shoulders upright, established an air of authority that even the blonde could not deny._

 _For some strange reason, which Yang could not identify, the girl didn't seem unfamiliar._

* * *

"Yeah... The princess had a pretty big stick up her ass when we first met," Yang grumbled. "Still does, but it's a lot more bearable now."

Ruby simply chose to glare at her sister through the corner of her eyes. "She was being perfectly nice."

* * *

 _"I don't think I will ever be able to understand why you chased me outside the shop or why you decided to hurtle yourself down a flight of stairs." The girl spoke without an ounce of affection or gratitude. "But I suppose you did save me from a couple of trying injuries, so I charged the hospital bill to my account. I believe that this will be enough to settle the matter?"_

 _She stared at them, as if daring the two to go against any of her words._

* * *

"No, she was being snooty," Yang countered. "And I was being the best wingwoman ever."

* * *

 _"Uh... Yeah! That sounds great. Thank you so much," Ruby peeped in a slightly disappointed undertone._

 _Despite the fact that the girl in front of her acted too prim and prudish for her tastes, Yang decided to uphold her sister's prior courage and rose from her seat._

 _"Hey!" Yang fiercely walked up to the woman, towering over her by another head. "My baby sister has a broken arm because of you and that's all you can say?"_

 _"She's hardly a child." The woman scoffed, her arms crossed and locked in position. "And if she didn't startle me in the first place, I wouldn't have fallen."_

 _"So she opened the door really loudly, big deal!" The blonde dismissed. "How hard is it to keep your two feet on the ground?"_

 _"Then what exactly are you suggesting that I do?" She questioned, a scowl slipping through the girl's polite façade._

 _Narrowed lilac eyes leveled a stare at her. Then, Yang suddenly broke out into a broad grin, startling the other down as she asked: "How old are you?"_

 _"Excuse me?" The woman took a step back, pondering if madness ran in the family._

 _"How old are you?" Yang repeated with more exertion this time._

 _"...Twenty-three," she answered through gritted teeth._

 _"And your name?"_

 _There was another indignant pause._

 _"Your name, princess?" Yang asked again, this time with a wily leer._

 _The already stony expression hardened. "Weiss Schnee."_

 _There was a moment of silence, as Ruby stared tensely between her sister and her mystery crush._

 _And then…_

 _"Holy shit!" Yang exploded. "You're Weiss-fucking-Schnee! I knew I saw you from somewhere!"_

 _The blonde pointed at the girl, quite rudely from any angle of observation. Weiss tilted her head away in disdain, not bothering to dignify Yang's profanity with a proper response._

* * *

"Okay, maybe not the _best_ wingwoman ever," Yang added reluctantly, as Ruby had been soundlessly glaring at her. "But still, I'm better than most!"

* * *

 _"Who?"_

 _The word echoed across the room, earning Ruby a jerked reaction from not only her older sister but also from her honored guest as well._

 _"Ruby! This is Weiss Schnee! The Schnee family, you know, the big business tycoons of the diamond industry?"_

 _Innocent, blank eyes blinked up at her with no sign of recollection._

 _Sighing, Yang put into simpler terms. "You almost offed an heiress to the richest company in this country!"_

* * *

"And then, you proceeded to spew out a dozen more apologies, at the end of which, the pissed off princess simply threw out a card with her number on it and left the building." Yang sighed happily as the memories came to a slow halt. "Best how-your-mommies-met-each-other-story I can tell my nephews and nieces in the future."

"How was this supposed to cheer me up again?" Ruby moaned, rubbing the side of her head.

"The point of this story was that you made a complete ass of yourself the first time you guys met and she still stuck around. And that's not because Weiss is the most tolerant, forbearing person out there. Because let's face it, she's not." Yang bent her arms around Ruby, pulling her in closer. "She stuck around because you _are_ special. Socially awkward or not, you're lovable in your own way, sis. You don't have to try and be someone you're not."

"Besides..." Yang passed her a fairly playful wink. "Being irresistibly charming and dressing provocatively is kind of my thing. And I would appreciate it if you didn't take that away from me."

"Thanks, Yang." Ruby smiled genuinely. "I think that might have helped me out a little."

"No problem." The blonde flashed her a toothy grin.

"And Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"There's just two hours and forty-nine minutes left now."

"Oh, for fuck's sake."


	3. Once Bitten and Twice Shy (Part 2)

Weiss unbuckled her seatbelt as she parked into the driveway of a small house in the suburbs. She untied her lengthy hair, letting it run loose over her shoulders. Grabbing her keys and a few things from the back seat, she stepped out into the cold. It was nearing the end of December and the streets were below freezing. Shivering, she pulled her trench coat tightly around her body.

Snow crunched underneath her heels as she moved across the cement pavement, to the front door of the house. At exactly ten in the morning, Weiss Schnee pressed the doorbell to her date's home and waited.

Noises of frantic shouts and scuffling feet reached Weiss's ears. Her eyebrows rose in question as the door opened, only by a quarter of an inch, to reveal a familiar hue of lilac peeking through.

"Who is it?" An overly jovial tone asked through the gap.

"It's Weiss," the heiress answered.

"Leave the milk bottle in the usual spot, Jaune!" A finger stuck out, pointing to the front porch window sill.

"Yang," she began to drawl, having little patience for such frivolous nonsense.

"I'm sorry but who is this?" The voice called out again, this time faking ignorance.

"I have your beer, you brute. Now open the door!"

Her orders worked like magic, as the main entrance swung open at a dangerously alarming speed. It quite narrowly missed the tip of her nose. Weiss scowled as she took a step back, glaring up at the older sibling of her date, who was (in sharp contrast) positively beaming.

"Well, why didn't you open with that?" Yang said contently, and mockingly, as she addressed her. "Come in! Come in!"

Weiss didn't bother to reply, silently passing the cold pack of Corona down into the blonde's waiting arms. She had picked it up the night before, ensuring a safe passage into the Xiao Long household. The first time Yang had laid out the ground rules, the heiress had made the mistake of not taking the blonde's words too seriously. When she had visited the house, absent of alcohol, Yang refused to open the door for her, forcing a furious Weiss to drive out and pick up several bottles at the nearest store before being able to see Ruby.

But Weiss hadn't mentioned this to her date, as the transaction had been somewhat of a secret. And now, Weiss began to see the strange logic behind the idea as well. All forms of liquor were prohibited under Yang's roof. Ruby had recounted numerous tales of a drunk blonde, unintentionally punching holes into walls or setting stoves on fire, forcing the younger sister to take action and create a new golden rule: "No alcohol inside the house, like ever."

But special circumstances called for the rules to break, Yang stated privately. During times of social calls, Yang would allow Weiss to step over the doorstep and peacefully converse with her sister; meanwhile, Weiss would provide the substance needed to keep the brute distracted, since it was a common fact that the two didn't see eye-to-eye on many matters.

"Where's Ruby?" Weiss asked, diverting her gaze away from the blonde, who was busy hiding her stash beneath a pile of coats.

"Here I am!" With a blur of red and black, a short girl appeared by her near side, eyes sparkling and her mouth panting out of breath. She was wearing a pair of navy-blue pants and a warm wool sweater on top. With a red over-sized jacket draped over her shoulders, Ruby threw down a pair of cozy fur boots, then vigorously stuffed her feet inside them.

"I'm ready! Let's go!" The girl said excitedly as she pulled a small bag over her head. Within a few seconds, Ruby was standing by the front door, resembling a puppy waiting to be let out for a quick walk. Weiss tried her best not to let out an uncharacteristic squeal.

"All right." Weiss cleared her throat. "I suppose we'll be leaving straight away then."

"Actually, your girlfriend and I need to talk about something for a second," Yang said, taking and throwing Weiss's keys at Ruby, who blinked in slight confusion. "Wait in the car, would you?"

"Okay...?" Ruby complied rather reluctantly, turning towards the door. "But you better not be threatening Weiss to smuggle beer in here again."

"I may have slipped up," Yang whispered into Weiss's ear before flashing a wide innocent smile. "Wouldn't dream of it, sis!"

With an unsatisfied grunt, Ruby walked out onto the porch. As soon as the door closed, Weiss gave a wary glance to the blonde. "I'm assuming this isn't about the alcohol since I already helped you illegally import liquor into the house?"

"Nope, no beating around the bush this time." Weiss tensed at the unusually solemn expression on the blonde's face, all hints of prior cheeriness gone. She had forgotten how frightening Yang was capable of looking since their first meeting when the sweaty woman had been too close for her comfort. Her eyes hardened, displaying intense conviction with the incoming demand. "I want to hear your exact intentions with Ruby."

"I intend to date her?" Weiss replied wittily, her poor jest being met with humorless eyes.

"I'm not joking around this time," growled Yang, and Weiss didn't need any more verification than that. "How serious are you about this?"

"Pretty serious," she retorted shakily, staring down at the ground.

"This is my baby sister, okay? And I've seen her on other dates before. And believe it or not, you're not the first person I had to have this talk with." Weiss tried her very best not to seem bothered by this fact. "But you are the first girl Ruby has ever been _this_ crazy about."

Yang's eyebrows furrowed slightly with unease. "Don't get me wrong, Weiss. I like you, even if we are as different as night and day."

"Oh really?" A dry response of cynicism escaped her lips. For many reasons, involving the blonde's distasteful jokes and occasional insults, Weiss found this sudden utterance of affection quite difficult to believe. The heiress always presumed that she was merely tolerated, never truly accepted, for Ruby's sake.

"At first, I thought you were some prissy little rich girl who would play around with my sister's heart," Yang confessed, confirming her fears. "But the way Ruby talks about you, the way you act around Ruby... I've seen and heard enough to know that you care about her a lot. You're a good person, Weiss."

The sincerity in Yang's words caught her off-guard.

"You guys were friends for more than a year. You know how Ruby is, what she's like with other people. She's an open book. Anyone can see that you're not a passing phase for her. She likes you, like, a lot. And I think you know that too."

Soundlessly, Weiss nodded to Yang's words.

"So I need to hear that, if you're going in this, you're going in it with all that you've got." Yang sighed to herself. "I'm not trying to drive you away or pressure you, or anything, really. I just need you to promise me that you won't ever hurt my little sister."

Weiss felt the tension in her stomach, being carefully watched through such an unbearable silence. Seconds passed until she couldn't take the weight of it any longer.

"You are being the overbearing drama queen as usual," Weiss huffed. At her words, Yang seemed too surprised to even remember how to look angry.

"Ruby and I are going to be a new and inexperienced couple. We are going to have our fights, and there are going to be disagreements, like all partners have. I can't promise you that I won't hurt your sister in any way because, as you are well aware, I can be a bit...difficult."

Yang's eyes narrowed scathingly at these words.

"But I will tell you this," Weiss hurried on before Yang had the compulsion to throw out a punch. "I will treat your sister with nothing but love and respect. And I would never do anything that proves otherwise, I promise."

The following silence would have normally calmed the heiress. But as she was waiting for some sort of verbal permission to date Ruby, from Ruby's overprotective, ill-tempered older sister, she couldn't help but feel enormously uncomfortable, waiting desperately for any words to be spoken.

"The beer..." Yang finally mumbled something.

"Excuse me?" Weiss hoped that her ears were deceiving her. Perhaps she shouldn't have wished for purely any words.

"The beer," repeated the blonde, a familiar sparkle of light emerging in her eyes. "There's no need to bring it next time."

"Um, okay then?" Weiss nodded with uncertainty, confusion still etched onto her face. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we should try and be sober with each other." Yang grinned rather brightly. "Since I'll probably be seeing a lot more of you from now on."

"You don't mean...?" Weiss's eyes widened at the insinuation. "Are you suggesting that we spend more time together?"

"I guess so." Yang shrugged. "I like to spend a lot of my free time with my sister, and I'm not about to relinquish all of that just because you walked into the room. And to do that, we have to learn how to get along. So you'll have to let some of my so-called 'ill habits of a savage barbarian' go, okay princess?"

"Mph," the heiress grunted in approval. "I suppose I can do that."

"And I'll stop making fun of your hair too."

"You never did that before," Weiss said, frowning.

"Oops, guess those were just for me." Yang laughed at yet another well-earned scowl. "Okay, okay, I'll dial down with the jokes as well."

"And you'll drop the nicknames?"

"Not a chance, Ice Queen."

* * *

"Well, that took longer than I expected. What did you guys talk about?" Ruby asked, carelessly putting on her seatbelt as the heiress stepped into the car.

"Oh, nothing." Weiss let out a long sigh, feeling both tired and relieved that the conversation was over and done with.

"Nothing I should beat up my sister about when I get home?" Ruby stared into her, and even the Ice Queen couldn't help but outwardly chuckle at the image of a tiny Ruby, trying to so much as bruise the tall built blonde.

"No, not at all," Weiss whispered, her small laughs settling into a pretty smile on her lips. "You have a great sister, Ruby. Really _._ "

The girl turned her gaze across the car window. The front door of the house remained widely opened; a lightly-dressed blonde waved happily towards them, seemingly unperturbed by the cold.

Ruby grinned. "She is pretty great."

* * *

The joy had deescalated quickly at the residence of Yang Xiao Long. The new lovey-dovey couple had driven away, leaving behind a dull blue mood. It made Yang painfully aware of just how far she was from having a relationship as special as the one her sister had found with Weiss. A worn-out sigh escaped from her lips, as the blonde closed the door. Currently, on the floor of their kitchen, there existed another problem she would have to deal with.

Yang walked back, away from the living room, to the spot where the over-sized gift box was collecting dust. With a heave, she dragged it back out from underneath the table. Setting it next to the wooden counter, she stared down at the present, unsure of what action to take now.

Its flashy colors of white and pink looked to be taunting her. A perfect bow stood on top of the package, an enveloped hand-written card still hanging on by a thick, shiny string. The blonde reached out, her fingers ready to tear at the sides of it, but they retracted seconds before making contact. It seemed like a waste to rip it, Yang thought as she recalled how much trouble she had gone through to have the box wrapped and ready to go.

A twinge of embarrassment rose in her cheeks as Yang remembered. Actually, she hadn't been the one to go through the hassle.

No, it had been someone else...

* * *

 _Night had fallen on the twenty-third of December. The shopping mall, which had turbulently risen to life during the day, was calming down as the clock drew near closing time. Unfortunately, for a small gift wrapping station on the first floor, the day was far from over._

 _"_ _Stop! Wait! Wait! Wait!" A thunderous blonde was charging towards them, a large, heavy blue and white box in her arms. The station trembled as the girl thrust it upon the wrapping table._

 _"_ _...One... Present...to go... Please," Yang wheezed, catching her breath after the thousand meter dash she had just taken._

 _"_ _Salutations!" A friendly red-head addressed her almost immediately. "My name is Penny! How may I help you today?"_

 _"_ _Hi... Penny... This..." Yang managed to lift a tired finger and make a twirling motion, her voice still loudly gasping for air. "Box."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry, but it is now half past nineteen hundred hours. A minute has gone since our business hours. Please visit us again tomorrow." Penny smiled cheerfully, seemingly not noticing the look of pure horror on the blonde's face._

 _"_ _No! You don't understand! I need to get this wrapped now!" Yang collected herself enough to say. "Please! I'm desperate here!"_

 _"_ _I'm sorry, but it is now-"_

 _"_ _Oh, come on!" Frustrated, the blonde slammed both fists down on the counter. "It's only been a minute! Can't you cut me some slack? This thing weighs a ton, you know!"_

 _This seemed to trigger some sort of defense mechanism in the girl. The worker frowned, her hands folding into fists and her body moving into a strange battle stance. The redhead didn't look intimidating at all, with her red and green apron and a pink bow fastened at the back of her head. Still, Yang half-expected the girl to throw a karate chop to her head, before the two were interceded by a more even voice._

 _"_ _Penny, please stop," said a woman with long, raven black hair. Her hand landed gently on the redhead's shoulder._

 _"_ _Don't worry, Blake," Penny stated, holding her fists up in the air. "I'm combat ready!"_

 _"_ _That's quite all right. I got this." The girl chuckled slightly, lowering the hands of her co-worker. "Why don't you go help General Ironwood clean up in the back?"_

 _"_ _Okay then!" Penny complied happily, but chose to throw one more look of heeding caution towards Yang before disappearing through the back door._

 _This new girl, Blake, was taller, even so still a couple centimeters short of rivaling Yang. Tidy bangs glided over her large amber eyes, both of which were peering into her with an anticipating stare. Instead of sprouting a well-deserved "thank you" or even giving off a polite nod, the mysterious mind of Yang flew past the obvious conventional greetings. Instead, she blurted out a rather confused question: "Who's General Ironwood?"_

 _"_ _He's the head manager here," Blake answered coolly. "It's a nickname, actually. He runs this place like the military, so the workers started calling him that and it caught on. I think he secretly likes being called the general though."_

 _"_ _Oh. Okay... So that explains the weird girl who tried to..." Yang had begun to joke but trailed off after noticing Blake's icy stare._

 _"_ _Yes?" The girl asked curtly, challenging the blonde to carry on._

 _"_ _No, no! Not weird!" The blonde vigorously shook her hands in the air, as if hoping her mistakes would go flying away. "I'm sorry. She was interesting, cool! That's all I meant!"_

 _Blake looked somewhat apologetic as well. "She is a bit...eccentric. But she's very nice once you get to know her."_

 _"_ _I believe you." Yang flashed a convincing smile._

 _Getting back to the task at hand, however, Blake ignored the gesture and stared down at the object on the table. Her eyes widened ever-so-slightly in response._

 _"_ _This is a cooler?" There was an almost unnoticeable twitch at the corner of her lips._

 _"_ _Uh... Yeah," Yang confirmed rather lamely._

 _A quizzical glance was thrown her way, but the girl must have decided not to venture any further. She simply took the container by the handle and gave it a good lift. It didn't even so much as budge._

 _"_ _What is inside of this cooler, may I ask?" Blake finally resolved to know._

 _"_ _Well..." With an embarrassed sigh, Yang settled on opening the lid herself. The blonde motioned the girl forward, giving her permission to peek inside. Golden eyes squinted, leering into the cold receptacle before gawking up at the blonde's face. "It's ice cream."_

 _If they had been close friends, Yang would have laughed at the look of sheer incredulity on Blake's face. Yet, seeing that she wasn't, Yang just smiled sheepishly, musing over how crazy she would be coming across on a scale of one to ten._

 _"_ _I've got to say, this is by far the weirdest thing I've had to wrap up," Blake said, a bit playfully. "Actually no, there had been a girl here yesterday wanting a bear skin rug decorated with flowers for her fiancé."_

 _"_ _Well, love makes people do the craziest things," Yang chuckled._

 _"_ _So this is a Christmas present for your boyfriend too? Several boxes of Neapolitan ice cream?" Blake also laughed, albeit not rudely, at the unconventional gift._

 _"_ _Ex-girlfriend, actually." She didn't know why she found the need to correct the stranger. "We had a big fight recently but I think I found a way to turn it all around."_

 _Blake simply hummed in response. "Okay. Well, if that's what you want, you'll have to help me carry this first."_

 _"_ _No problem," Yang assured her with confidence. She lifted the container up with her hands, without a moment of delay. "Where to?"_

 _Blake motioned for her to come around the table. Out of a few leftover boxes, she found one big enough to fit the cooler. Yang grunted as she hauled the container over and gently placed it inside._

 _"_ _Any preference on the wrapping paper?"_

 _"_ _Uh... Do you have anything in pink, white, and brown?" Yang asked, sounding optimistic._

 _Blake pulled off two colorful rolls from the shelf. "We only have white and pink. But I can put a brown ribbon on top."_

 _The girl sat down on the floor, taking position next to the box. Yang stood awkwardly by her side, occasionally lifting the box when asked to._

 _"_ _So..." Yang started, trying to fill the silence with a little small talk. "Any plans for tomorrow?"_

 _"_ _Hopefully not working at a mall." Blake smirked. "People are mad around the Christmas season."_

 _"_ _How so?"_

 _"_ _Oh, you know, busy parents rushing to get that new video game for their bawling six-year-old son who doesn't know Santa isn't real yet. Lazy friends and co-workers wanting the prettiest wrapping paper here to cover up the fact that they picked up last-minute gifts at Wal-Mart." Blake looked up at her as well. "Or even crazy girlfriends with huge containers of ice cream, wrapped up and ready to go with a bow."_

 _"_ _Yeah... I guess I do come off as a bit insane." Yang scratched the back of her head._

 _"_ _It's sweet," Blake told her calmly, as a perfect ribbon was formed. "Voila."_

 _"_ _Great!" Yang offered a hand, pulling the employee back up to her feet as she fished around her jacket for some extra change._

 _"_ _It's fine. We were closed for today anyway." Blake waved off her money, flashing the blonde a genuine smile. "I hope you go and get your girl back."_

* * *

Yang sprung to her feet at the memory.

Where had the confidence gone from that day? That day when she had admittedly coerced a poor girl into wrapping up a box of ice cream after hours?

This wasn't a trivial problem, but that never stopped her from trying to fix things before.

She hauled the present over her shoulders and raced out into the carport.

With a couple of sturdy ropes, the blonde secured the gift onto the back of her motorcycle. The engine of her vehicle roared into action, and Yang sped out into the bitter cold.

* * *

"That tasted amazing, Weiss!" Ruby bounced up and down as they exited the restaurant. The girl had emptied three plates at a morning buffet before noon had arrived.

"Chew slowly next time or you'll choke," Weiss chastised her date gently as she opened up a mint container and graciously offered one.

"Thanks." Ruby grinned and picked one out of the can. "I wish Yang could have tasted some of that stuff! Those English muffins were awesome!"

"Should I go back and have some wrapped up for her?" Weiss asked, frowning. "Though, it would get way too hard and stale to eat later on."

"Nah!" Ruby declined the offer. "She'll be full by the time we get back anyway. Knowing her, she's probably ordering some pizza right about now."

* * *

After approximately an hour or so, a frozen Yang finally arrived at the numbered street of her ex-girlfriend's home. She had the place memorized by heart. Panning left and right, she pulled over a short distance away from the house, wishing to surprise the girl.

She tossed the helmet off, her hair flying wildly against the frigid breeze. Yang went around her motorcycle, restless as she unchained the present. She lugged it closer into her arms, walking it over to the front gates.

She hadn't even made it past the first hedge of the lawn before she saw a scene that made her heart drop.

There was a brightly decorated Christmas tree, as seen through the large transparent window. Yang had told Neo, time and time again, to cover it up with curtains, providing some privacy. But the girl had never listened, saying that she enjoyed the busy view of the street. And now, through the clear glass, Yang was forced to witness a maddening scene. Her ex-lover, lips locked with another woman.

It was impossible.

It couldn't be. It had been barely been a week since the breakup.

But no, she was at the right house. This was the correct address. And Yang could see the unmistakable colors of her girlfriend's hair, something she had so proudly known.

She would confront her. Throw the damned present through the window, knocking the both of them unconscious. But the container in her arms felt heavy for the first time, the weight of it dragging her down onto the ground.

Why wasn't she angry? Why was her strength failing her, at this crucial moment, the one time when she truly wanted to punch, to injure, to hurt. She was mad. She was furious. But no part of her body seemed to wish for anything more than to sit there silently in the snow. She wanted to charge inside and shake Neo into oblivion, burning her face with marks of pain and betrayal.

But she couldn't.

Because Yang saw the expression on her girl's face, and she knew. She was happy. She was truly, gut-wrenchingly happy without her. And she couldn't deprive anybody of that joy.

Yang swallowed, looking down at her hands, waiting for the tears to fall. But not a single drop did.

Perhaps, deep down, Yang knew that it wouldn't work between them.

She had fallen for Neo almost instantaneously. They had met on the train, with Yang clumsily tripping over the girl's umbrella as she moved to a different compartment. And at the last station, where the two had gotten off together, it had begun to pour, and a certain blonde wasn't prepared for rainfall.

Though like summer love, it was fleeting and short, burning out faster than a cheap candlestick.

Months passed by with both in denial, both too stubborn to admit to themselves that they had made the wrong decision leaping in too fast. Fights became a norm, all of them ending with Yang storming out of the room as Neo outright refused to speak a single syllable. Communication grew poorer as they simply delayed time, the inevitable, with mindless physical pleasures, until one of them was able to break the cycle.

It had been Neo. Yang had been an obstinate coward until the end.

The blonde began to wonder if she ever even truly loved her.

Calling it back to mind, the sentiment that drove her to the wrapping station didn't seem like love. She had yearned to reach the finish line, the happy ending, with someone, anyone, too soon. With a single rush of inspiration, Yang had raced to fill that container with ice cream, intoxicated with buoyant, bullish memories, forgetting the incompatibility, the pain, the anger, the rejection.

And she would suffer for it now.

* * *

"Honestly, Ruby..." Weiss grimaced. "These are the only times that I can actually believe you and Yang are indeed related."

"What? Don't 'Honestly-Ruby' me!" The girl in question wailed furiously. "He started it!"

The couple had decided to walk to their next destination, a small café Weiss's acquaintance ran quite successfully, when they had to take a short detour to the pharmacy and purchase a few items upon the heiress's irrefutable requests; the reason being that Ruby had injured herself while knocking down a hungover man twice her size. It was a small, justifiable punishment – Ruby argued – for relentlessly hitting on her date while she had been momentarily distracted by the smell of freshly baked cookies.

Weiss sighed as they sat at the back end of the store. In one hand, she held a tube of ointment and with the other, she was cleaning the wound on her date's bleeding forehead. It had been there, ever since Ruby fell over from the man's aggravated push. Nevertheless, Ruby had jumped back to her feet, kicking the man in the groin before grabbing her date's hand and making a run for it.

Granted, it wasn't a big cut at all, but Weiss would not allow it go untreated.

"Hold still." The heiress scolded a struggling Ruby.

"But it hurts..."

"Then you shouldn't have done anything in the first place!" Weiss snapped.

"He was hurting you!" Ruby rebutted, with equal inflexibility on the matter. The girl was still somewhat seething at the image of the man, advancing closer to the heiress, his fishy hands deviating towards her hips.

Weiss tilted her head, staring quietly at her girlfriend. She wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or touched. But Ruby made it easy for her, making it almost always the latter.

"Thank you." Weiss grinned apologetically before sternly adding, "Now, stop squirming and let me put on the band-aid!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby giggled, moving her forehead closer to Weiss.

"Be careful from now on though, okay?" Weiss urged. "I don't want to see blood every time we go out somewhere."

"What are you talking about? I've never bled before!"

"You broke your arm when we first met, remember?" Weiss stated bluntly.

"Yeah, but that led me to you." Ruby grinned effortlessly. "So you shouldn't say anything about that _particular_ injury."

"All I'm saying is that I don't want to see you get hurt!" Weiss turned her head away, feeling the effects of her burning cheeks. "Your sister would have my head for _sure_ if you come home with more than a broken arm or a small cut."

"Oh, come on." Ruby tossed her hand thoughtlessly in the air. "Yang can be pretty docile once you get to know her."

* * *

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Yang swore with each kick. The dumpster groaned, its mouth full of day-old ice cream.

* * *

"I suppose your sister can be reasonable at times," Weiss agreed slowly, remembering her newly arranged agreement with the blonde.

"I've sent her a couple of messages before." Ruby frowned as she checked her cell. "She didn't reply to any of them though."

"Are you sure she's at home?" Weiss asked, slightly surprised at the news. She assumed that the blonde would be incredibly fast to reply to Ruby's texts, as usual with her obscene tips or plays.

"I don't know." Ruby sulked. "Whenever I asked her if she was going out, she changed the subject. She's been this way ever since she fought with her girlfriend last week. I hope nothing bad happened."

"Didn't you tell me they always fight?" The heiress tried to reason.

"They do. But this time it was different..." Ruby brooded. "Usually when they fight, Yang comes home all huffy and angry. But this time... Nothing. She went up to her room and came out all...calm."

Weiss frowned, taking Ruby's fidgety hands into her own. "Well, I'm sure she's fine."

"Yeah... I hope so."


	4. Once Bitten and Twice Shy (Part 3)

"I need to tell you something."

Night had fallen already, the duration of the sun cutting shorter in the deep winter. After a day full of events, involving injuring perverts in the groin, eating an early dinner, and walking around the park, the pair had driven out to a small ice rink.

A few hours on skates wore the two out, so they chose to sit down on a neighboring park bench, enjoying the tranquility of the evening as the area grew steadily deserted. Snow began to fall, landing softly on their coats. Ruby didn't mind, especially when she turned to face her girlfriend, whose pale skin and deep blue eyes were being perfectly complemented by the raining crystals of white.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, seeing her breath in the cold air.

"Do you remember the day we first met?"

"Remember?" Ruby flexed her right arm, reminding herself that it was no longer broken. "How could I forget?"

"As memorable as that was..." Weiss smirked. "It's not the bit I was referring to. I'm talking about the part at the hospital. When you woke up after an hour and your sister came marching in, screaming at you to leave a more decent voicemail next time."

"Yeah... But..." Ruby was perplexed. "How did you know that?"

The heiress bit her lips, her eyebrows scrunched up at the middle. "Because I heard everything."

"Everything?" The girl gulped.

"Everything." A short nod.

"Uh..." Words failed Ruby as she stared into her date's eyes, recalling the humiliating story she had recounted to her sister while lying on the hospital bed.

"I'll admit, I was more surprised than flattered," Weiss carefully phrased her words, remembering the time she had eavesdropped. She was disturbed by how terrible someone could be at making a proper first impression.

"I called you out for lunch later that month." Weiss grinned slightly. "Partly because you were annoying me... But partly because of this gut feeling inside that kept nudging at me until I pressed send. Also, I _did_ feel somewhat guilty about your injured arm."

Ruby recalled the exact moment she was in when she had received the message from the heiress.

* * *

 _"_ _Yang! Yang! Yang, come out! What are you doing? I need you!" Deafening knocks were heard throughout the house._

 _"_ _I'm in the bathroom! What do you think I'm doing?" An angry voice yelled in return._

 _"_ _She texted back! She actually texted me back! She says she wants to take me out to lunch! What do I do, Yang? What do I do?" Ruby pounded even harder on the doorway._

 _"_ _Goddammit, Ruby!"_

* * *

"I remember being really confused about whether or not you were asking me out on a date," Ruby admitted as she twiddled with her thumbs for a while.

* * *

 _"_ _I don't think this is a date."_

 _"_ _You're sure? You're sure you don't think it's a date?" Ruby whined, hope still evident in her eyes._

 _"_ _I don't feel the need to be apologized to anymore, as you have done nothing wrong. If having lunch with you will cease your endless expressions of regret, I will meet you at the small Italian bistro across from the street of that ice cream parlor, 11:30 am, 30_ _th_ _of July. Please do not be late." Yang's eyes narrowed in half-pity and half-annoyance as she read the message out loud. "It definitely doesn't sound like a date to me."_

 _"_ _Maybe she's just really, really shy?"_

* * *

"Back then, I couldn't understand why I called you out for lunch. But I think I know now." Her eyes gleamed with certainty as she said this. Ruby waited keenly for Weiss to continue.

"You were different," Weiss said faintly. That word seemed most fitting. "You weren't formal or mannerly like the other suitors I usually meet. But you weren't fake. You were awkward, and weird, and embarrassing, but you weren't a fake."

Ruby was sure, by the smile of deep appreciation on her partner's face, that this was meant to be the highest of compliments, despite the three folds of insults it had come with.

"I'm not saying that I was head over heels for you from then on," Weiss acknowledged openly. "I was ridiculously stubborn. I tried to avoid you, hate you, run away from you... Because I was confused and afraid about what I was beginning to feel. And yet, I couldn't stay away from you. So, I settled on the idea of becoming friends, until that option began to run out too. Because you are an unforgettable person, Ruby."

Ruby said nothing, watching as her girlfriend rummaged into her purse. With a determined sigh, Weiss pulled out a small present box. It was red, like her favorite color.

The heiress soundlessly put it down onto her lap; Ruby tore off her mittens, and then carefully, with her fingers, opened it up.

It was a necklace, a thin chain of silver ran down in a V-shape.

At the middle of it was a shiny bronze penny.

Weiss watched as a small gasp escaped Ruby's lips, a sign of realization that the girl knew what it was that she carried in her hands.

"This... I gave you..." Ruby mumbled as her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of the ocean.

* * *

 _"_ _So... You're Weiss Schnee, huh?" Her skittish companion for today's lunch had said; the rhetorical question was remarkably candid._

 _"_ _I am," the heiress answered shortly, assuming that this girl, too, would become an intolerable phony, discreetly steering the conversation either to subjects of her family wealth or the company she would inherit in the future._

 _What the girl did next, however, astounded her._

 _"_ _I guess you really didn't need this back then." There was a nervous chuckle as Ruby pulled something out of her pocket._

 _They were coins._

 _Three pennies and a dime._

 _It was the change she had not bothered to pick up from the counter before leaving the ice cream shop. This stranger still carried with her these dirty, old coins to return._

 _"_ _You need not give that back," Weiss whispered, eyeing the flat pieces of money in sheer bafflement._

 _"_ _Still..." Ruby grinned, gently pushing the pile across the table. "For luck, you know?"_

* * *

"I kept it." Weiss smiled. Her fingers trailed down the line of her neck and pulled out the charm she had been wearing all day. Its design matched the one Ruby had unraveled. "At first, I shoved it someplace in my apartment. I thought it was stupid, keeping it. But I couldn't throw it out or spend it either. And I'm extremely relieved that I didn't, especially since I was racking my brains on what to get you for Christmas this year. I wasn't going to take your sister's vulgar advice on giving you..."

She paused, shuddering at the memory of Yang's text, which had simply stated "sexy underwear ;)" before being instantly accompanied with a "Just kidding! If I catch you in the bedroom, you're dead, Schnee."

"This seemed appropriate. It symbolizes for me why I love you, Ruby Rose." The Ice Queen said her next words in the sweetest way possible. "You're a dolt."

"Wow... I..." Ruby couldn't finish, tears threatening to pour out from happiness and joy. All the insecurities she had felt over the years, the fear of rejection too great to make a move, the terror of having let a drunken mistake threaten the possibility of being even friends, all of it had been single-handedly chased by those three words.

"Sorry. I left your present back at home," Ruby managed to finally choke out.

"That's fine," Weiss reassured, pulling her date close by the arm. "I already got my gift."

Ruby's watery eyes blinked up at her date. The world was wrong; blue was the warmest color of all.

Yang had rebuked her for not noticing all the hints before.

She wouldn't miss this one.

This was the signal.

Not waiting for a single second to tick by, Ruby leaned forward, diving in for their long, anticipated kiss.

* * *

Taking longer than expected due to the weather, it was a few minutes before midnight when Ruby and Weiss arrived back at the former's house. The trip back had been rather rowdy, as Weiss noted that her Christmas present and declaration of love had heightened the already animated character of her date. Still radiating in merriment, Ruby had bounced out of the car as soon as she parked into the driveway. Weiss half-expected the girl to protest on leaving and was slightly disappointed by her date's eager departure from the vehicle. She was pleasantly surprised, however, when her girlfriend ran around the front of the car, yanking open the door and tugging the heiress out as well.

Ruby insisted that she stayed the night, as the roads were frozen solid and too dangerous to travel on. With the bad luck of injuries they had, Ruby argued that driving back to her own apartment would be an unnecessarily high risk to take. Weiss didn't hesitate to point out that so far Ruby had been the only one to get hurt. But still, she was instantly met with two irresistible puppy dog eyes that would not take no for an answer. Cursing at her low self-control, Weiss allowed herself to be dragged towards the front porch.

The heiress wasn't too anxious about walking inside. She had visited the household prior to today. And above all, Ruby was too innocent to have meant that staying overnight meant 'staying the night.' Not to mention the fact that Yang would not sleep a single wink with her presence underneath the roof.

"Yang! Yang, I'm home!" Ruby shouted as she opened the doors to the house. Her shoulders drooped slightly at the sight of a pitch-black room. Two loud barks echoed from inside. A small, brown corgi greeted them. His ears were pointing to the floor, a small whimper escaping from his throat.

The situation was a bit uncanny, thought Ruby. It was already abnormal that Yang wasn't waiting by the door, pouncing the both of them, asking if she had a great time, before dragging Weiss into the corner, repeating the same question but in a slightly more interrogative manner.

Naturally, Ruby thought that Yang was hiding behind the coat rack, her usual jump-and-scare spot. Perhaps the unlit room was a staged part of the plan. But Weiss had turned on the lights as she walked inside, and there was no sign of ankles showing at the bottom of their winter fleeces.

It was eerily quiet.

"Yang?" Ruby looked around the living room before quickly advancing towards the kitchen. Strange indeed - the coffee that Yang had been drinking in the morning remained, only half-consumed and now as cold as ice. The huge present, she noted, had disappeared from underneath the round table.

Weiss was still in the living room with Zwei. She checked underneath the coat pile and saw that the beer bottles were still there, not a single one opened.

"Ruby?" Weiss approached her date slowly. The heiress knew it had been odd for the blonde not to be waiting for them as well. However, it wasn't as big as a shock for her. Not as much as Ruby, for Ruby knew the proper protocol.

The first time had been when she was fourteen. She had been asked out by a boy in her class. Her older sister had been there, the moment they returned from the amusement park, to interrogate the boy and steal bits of her cotton candy.

The second time had been in her freshmen year. An upperclassman had taken her out to a restaurant, but then subsequently became drunk with a couple of his shady friends. Ruby had sent out a distress signal to her sister via text, who promptly arrived at the scene to punch her date in the face and safely bring her home. The rest of the night, the blonde called in sick at her part-time job, choosing to comfort her with boxes of cookies and jellybeans instead.

The third and last time had been at the night of her senior prom. Yang, a college student at the time, had arrived home early on Friday to spend some time with her sister, as Ruby told her she would not be attending the dance with a date. However, her sister had walked in on a raunchy make-out session with another girl. Ruby worried that Yang was angry at her for her choice of company. However, her sister had simply been upset at the fact that she hadn't been told about it beforehand.

From these experiences, Ruby was thoroughly informed; the lack of the blonde's presence in the house after a date was as likely as the apocalypse happening tomorrow morning.

But she was gone. Her sister wasn't here.

Ruby knew. She knew that Yang wouldn't be sleeping right now. But she still had to check. There was nowhere else her sister could be, and she couldn't possibly imagine the blonde to have waited this long to leap out of a closet door.

With a feeling of dread in her chest, Ruby moved past her date and rushed upstairs, tripping on the last step before charging into her sister's room.

It was empty.

Pajamas and kitty slippers were scattered across the floorboard. Blankets were drooping down the edges of an unmade bed.

This was all wrong.

The girl emptied her bottom pockets and found her phone. No notifications or replies. No voice mails, no texts stating that the blonde would be heading out. Nothing. She frantically pressed the prime number on speed dial, waiting for a response from a dead line.

"Ruby!" Weiss shouted as she hastened up the stairs. It wasn't Yang's absence that worried the heiress. It had been the look of unsettling panic on her girlfriend's face.

"She... She's not answering her phone!" Ruby cried out in worry, as Weiss showed up next to her side, panting.

"Your sister's an adult. She probably went out to the store or something," Weiss tried to calm her down, to no avail.

"No! You don't understand!" Ruby said anxiously. "She would tell me... She calls. My sister _always_ calls."

Yang always told her. She always let her know where she was going. Even during the most meaningless moments, like travelling to the gas station, the news of her sister's whereabouts was something she took as granted.

"She always picks up the phone!" Ruby reasoned, words flying out as fast as bullets as she pushed the call button again. "The only time she doesn't pick up the phone is when she's at work and she's definitely not at work right now, so she should pick up the phone! Even when she can't talk she _at least_ checks her text messages... I don't know why she hasn't... Where is she...?"

Weiss didn't know what to say. She had thought from the beginning that the bond the two sisters shared was _much_ more special than others. The basis for this, Weiss presumed, would be their parents' early departure from their lives. As Ruby had recounted the story only once to her before, their mother had passed on shortly after her birth, resulting in Yang being the mother hen of the family. Their father had gone as well, when Yang was graduating from highschool, forcing the blonde to attend a college near their home in order to fully take on the role of a guardian. These tragic circumstances were good reasons to explain Ruby's overreliance on her older sister. The depth of this emotional dependence, however, hadn't been truly shown, until now.

It took all the strength the Ice Queen could muster to settle Ruby down on the mattress of Yang's bed. The girl continued to obsess over the phone, hardly acknowledging Weiss's presence in the room. The heiress was sure that her date was moments away from suggesting to call the cops when a loud thud was heard from downstairs. Ruby froze in her arms.

A few seconds passed by.

Another clunking sound; it was unmistakable this time. Ruby sprung back onto her feet, scrambling back down the staircase in a flurry of wind. Weiss followed quickly, only to find the front doors still tightly shut. A fumbling of keys was heard from the other side though. Ruby bounded forward and swung the door open.

Yang stood at the entrance, her keys dropping to the ground as she saw the door magically open.

Her hair was messier than usual. Her thick golden locks were wet and tangled up by the wind. Possibly from the cold, Yang was pale, white as the snow falling outside. There were footsteps tracing behind her, indicating that the girl had walked back to the house from wherever she had been.

"Hey, sis!" Yang said quite casually as she walked in, ignoring the looks of disbelief as she took off her orange scarf. "Boy, it's chilly out there."

"Where were you?" Ruby wailed loudly, no longer being able to hold her feelings inside.

"...went for a couple of drinks..." Yang mumbled a reply.

In response, Ruby stepped back as a pungent scent filled the vicinity.

"You're drunk," she discerned.

"Yeah... So?" The blonde furrowed her eyebrows together in annoyance. She tried to take off her coat, but in midst of doing so, stumbled backwards onto her back. "Shit!"

Even with the no-liquor rule in the house, Ruby couldn't stop her older sister, a grown adult, from having a couple of drinks outside. But still, Yang usually controlled the amount of liquor she downed at the local bar. After all, she was fully aware of how uncomfortable Ruby got when she drank excessively, tending to become aggressive and prone to accidents. There were so many signs telling Ruby that there was something wrong with her sister.

"Come on," Ruby grumbled as she tried to help the impaired. Yet the blonde refused the aid, choosing to stay sitting on the floor. "Yang..."

Only a grunt came from the blonde's form.

"Yang! Get up!" Ruby shouted in exasperation as she continued to tug on her sister's sleeves. "We'll talk in the morning. Let's get you to bed."

"I'm staying here," Yang replied thickly, earning herself a look of stern disapproval.

"You are not sleeping on the floor," Ruby's uneasy voice dragged on. "Please, the ground's cold and you're already freezing-"

"Damn it, Ruby! I can take care of myself!" Yang shouted, baring her teeth towards her sister. "Just grab your stupid girlfriend and go. Get out of here! Leave me alone!"

The whirlwind of emotions had receded into a disconcerting nothingness. Weiss had been carefully watching from the sidelines, as her date attempted to take care of the drunkard. She didn't find that she was in a place to share in the family moments yet. It almost felt as if she were intruding on a very private, personal occasion. But when her girlfriend had become upset enough to abandon the cause, storming away without a word to either of them and disappearing up the stairs, the heiress knew she had to intervene.

She cautiously approached the blonde, though keeping a safe distance, afraid of getting too close.

"You had a full pack of beer I got you," Weiss decided to start off in a friendly tone. "Why didn't you stay home and drink?"

No answer.

"If you didn't like the brand I got you, you should have told me beforehand," the heiress tried again.

Nothing but heavy, erratic breathing was heard.

"Yang-"

"What!" Wide, maddened eyes flamed towards her now. Weiss stood her ground, despite the frightening look of fury displayed so clearly on the blonde. "What do you want, princess? What are you doing still standing there, huh? _I said leave me the fuck alone!_ Just go! Just go and be with Ruby!"

"No."

Yang's face, livid with anger, faltered for a moment, shock replacing it for a millisecond as she stared up at the heiress's unyielding stance.

"What?" Yang growled, visibly seething once again.

"I'm not the one who upset Ruby today." The Ice Queen hardened her icy glare. " _You_ are going in there, Yang Xiao Long, and _you_ are apologizing to your sister who has done nothing but be worried sick about you!"

There was a moment of silence.

"Fine!" said Yang suddenly, getting up and flinging her arms out in the air.

"Fine!" The girl repeated, still looking heavily crossed but no longer at the verge of tearing someone apart, limb by limb. The blonde finally took off her thick jacket, throwing it ungracefully onto the floor before storming up the staircase.

Weiss stared at the yellow retreating figure. With a long sigh of fatigue, she sank down onto the nearby couch, hoping that she had taken the right course of action. A noisy snivel sounded from under her feet. She looked down and saw Ruby's dog staring up at her, as if expecting comfort from the fight that he had to witness.

Muttering words of inconveniences, she reluctantly lifted the dog to her lap and stroked him across the back.

"Your owners are both crazy," she told him. Zwei merely snuggled more deeply into her stomach.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the heiress, the blonde had sobered up quite a bit by her words. After stomping up the stairs in leftover anger, Yang stopped at the foot of Ruby's room, not knowing what to say or what to do.

"Ugh..." She groaned, giving herself a painfully deserved slap in the face. "I am never getting this drunk again."

Without further delay, she knocked on the door.

"Ruby?" Yang asked as she tapped a couple more times. There wasn't even a mutter of concession, but the blonde knew she didn't want to leave Ruby alone any longer.

Inside, Yang found her little sister sitting in the shadows, on the far edge of her bed, thin arms joined tightly around her legs.

Tentatively, she closed the door behind her. "Ruby?"

"What?" A quiet, uncharacteristically tamed voice answered her.

"I'm so sorry, sis. I know you're mad at me. I shouldn't have left without saying anything to you... I know how much you worry," the blonde fumbled on. "I shouldn't have drunk that much booze and, god, I really shouldn't have yelled at you... It had nothing to do with you, I swear-"

"Yang," Ruby stopped her. "I'm not mad at you."

"You... You're not?"

Ruby glanced up, silver eyes scrutinizing her through the dark. "I'm concerned."

"What do you mean?" Yang swallowed, lowering her head to hide a sullen expression.

"See? You're doing it again," Ruby accused heatedly. "It's not just today. You _always_ say that everything's okay. You act like you're totally fine, when you're not."

"Sis..."

"And I quit!" Ruby turned to fully confront her. "I'm sick of you thinking that I don't know if you're sad or not. And I'm sick of having to _pretend_ not to notice because you might shut me out completely when I do! No, Yang. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm done."

"Ruby, I'm really fine," Yang tried to say lightly. "I had a few drinks with Sun and Neptune, that's all... You know how they get around bars and women..."

But her sister didn't believe a word of it. Instead of cutting through the excuses again, Ruby stood up and closed the distance between them. The room fell silent as Ruby initiated a hug, ignoring the unpleasant smell of alcohol reaching her nose as she nuzzled her face into Yang's wet sweater. It was far from the kind of 'death embraces' Yang's hugs were like - this one was soft and gentle.

"Don't make jokes when I ask if anything's wrong. Don't... Don't lie to me anymore, okay?" Ruby sniffled. "You take care of me, better than our mom and dad ever could, and I love you so much for that. I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't here."

Yang fell silent as well, unable to imagine how life would be if Ruby hadn't been a part of hers.

"But I'm not... I'm not a kid anymore." Ruby raised her head, eyes glinting in the dark, on the brink of tears. "You don't have to be the older sibling who protects me all the time. It's your turn to be the little sister for once."

Yang was too afraid of her own voice to speak. With a sharp intake of air, she murmured a weak apology.

"Don't be sorry." Ruby shook her head. "Talk."

"...I broke up with Neo," Yang quietly confessed. "Just about a week ago."

Ruby's arms tightened around her waist.

"But I don't think that's why I'm upset. Ruby, I thought I loved her. But when I saw that she found somebody else, it was so easy to give up. I wasn't even sad. I was mad and angry but- but I wasn't sad. I couldn't even cry! Isn't it normal for people to cry after a breakup? I mean, I bawl like a baby after watching Titanic." Yang laughed humorlessly, sending quivering tremors throughout her body.

"I'm afraid that I'm never going to find somebody," the blonde admitted the truth, for the first time in her life. "Somebody that I love so much, that I would die for them, you know? I keep dating and dating, thinking that _this_ one is the one...but none of them are. At first, it was easy laughing it off...enjoying my twenties, you know? But I don't think I can keep it up for long. I'm lonely... I'm so goddamn lonely, Ruby. Gosh, is there something wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you." Her response was firm yet soothing. "You're going to meet that person, your soulmate. Maybe you just need to wait for her to find you..."

Their embrace carried on for several minutes. Ruby poured her heart out into the hug, and Yang drank in the consolation, an understanding that tasted sweeter than any of the fine cocktails she consumed that evening.

Finally being able to recompose herself, the blonde chuckled faintly. "Holy shit, Ruby. When did you grow up so much?"

"A long time ago, you big dummy," Ruby huffed.

"Yeah... But still..." Yang smiled as she tenderly ended the embrace. "You'll always be my baby sister. The best one anyone could ever ask for."

"Are you better now?"

"Much better," she answered, affectionately ruffling up Ruby's mass of dark-reddish hair. And this time, it was honest.

"Now, go back downstairs. Weiss is probably growing old waiting for you." Yang smirked. "And tell the Ice Queen to park her carriage in the garage. Otherwise, it's going to be frozen solid in the morning."

Ruby grinned, ultimately relenting to her sister's smile. "Okay."


	5. Once Bitten and Twice Shy (Part 4)

**One Year Later**

The Christmas season had come around again this year. Groups of people were huddled in the streets, enjoying the peace and serenity of the night sky that seemed exclusive to this particular holiday.

Except, of course, for a very behind-the-schedule blonde.

Yang's phone rang for the third time that evening, and Yang begrudgingly knew that she couldn't possibly delay this any longer. Foreboding the worst, she answered the call.

"Yang! Where the heck are you?" An exceptionally loud voice screeched from the other side. Yang couldn't help herself but duck down in alarm, face swiveling left to right apologetically.

"I'm sorry!" Yang said quickly, finding an empty spot in the lobby to talk freely in. "I got held up at work! This guy came in last minute and asked for his tires to get fixed, claiming they got mulled by a bear or something from his honeymoon."

"If that's supposed to be a joke, it's really not that funny," Ruby grunted.

"Oh, come on! The one time I'm actually being serious, you think it's a joke," Yang growled. "If you saw the claw marks, you would believe me. Damn, I knew I should have taken pictures!"

"Yang!"

"Relax, I'll be there in thirty minutes!" She lied, knowing all too well that it would take at least forty minutes to catch the train and grab a taxi.

"Thirty minutes?" There was another shriek, rivaling the pitch of a dolphin on steroids as Yang grimly noted. She lifted the phone away, keeping it a healthy distance from her precious eardrums.

"I swear... Next time, I'll be the first one there," the blonde promised after the noise subsided.

"You better," Ruby muttered in a disgruntled manner, sounding uncannily like someone they knew.

"Geez," Yang began jokingly, "You know you sound more and more like Weiss each day?"

"Get over here _now_." And that, for sure, _was_ the Ice Queen.

"Oh hello, Weiss!" She piped happily. It's been a year since the lovely heiress to the Schnee Company had taken the hand of her clumsy baby sister. At first, Yang had gotten along horribly with the girl, but after a long time, taking into account the regular meetings and intermittent heart-to-hearts the two of them shared, Yang was confident enough to say that they were like blood sisters now, treating each other with love, care, and-

"You're already fifteen minutes late as _usual_ , and unlike your sister, I have no tolerance for tardiness," Weiss hissed, her trademark tone of annoyance clearly seeping through the call.

Well, they were still working on the patience bit, Yang reasoned.

"Oh! Ksssch! Going through a tunnel! Kssschkooookuuuh..." Yang thought quickly on her feet, making the best fake static noises she ever had to produce. She put in a short "Bye!" at the end before speedily hanging up the phone.

Immediately, Yang let out a long groan, shoving her phone back into her coat pocket, resolving not to answer it for the subsequent hour. She was just about to walk down to the train platform when she heard laughter from behind.

The blonde looked around, curious to find a young woman sitting on the bench to her left. Her orange-reddish hair curled up at the ends of her shoulder and a big pink bow fashioned the back of her head. A pair of bright green eyes stared up at her.

"Blake was right!" The girl giggled. "You _are_ funny!"

"Uh..." Yang didn't continue, not knowing what to say to this stranger, who had no doubt been eavesdropping on the whole conversation.

"Okay then..." In caution, and in embarrassment, Yang shifted away from the girl. "Bye?"

The redhead waved pleasantly at her, such a casual gesture that the blonde found herself mirroring the action nervously before jogging out of the place. Today was definitely shaping up to be a weird day for her. Delayed for another minute by the unexpected chit-chat, Yang raced across the levels. For some bizarre reason, the name Blake stuck to the back of her mind as she ran.

* * *

"There you are!" Weiss shouted as she opened the doors of her apartment, greeting the wheezing girl who had at long last arrived. "You know this is a new record, even for you, right?"

"Well, I take competition with my past selves pretty seriously," Yang said between pants before crushing the heiress in a pain-inducing bear hug. "Happy one year anniversary, princess!"

The affair was a holiday-themed event but mostly celebrated the fact that Weiss and Ruby had survived a whole year together as a merry couple. Although the actual date of their anniversary - the twenty-fourth of December - was still a week away, the heiress woefully announced that she would be gone by then, due to an important business meeting she had to attend abroad. An undesirable situation for the duo, but the ever-so positive Ruby found the bright side, suggesting that they hold the party a week earlier than scheduled.

"Get off me, you brute!" Weiss huffed as she, less reluctantly than usual, returned the gesture.

"I love you too!" Yang snuggled in closer as the flustered heiress tried desperately to end the embrace.

"Sis! You're here!" Ruby squealed from across the room before hopping out towards the front door. "Come on! I can't stop Sun and Neptune from taking any more jello shots and I know how much you love them!"

"You made jello shots?" Yang gave a puzzled glance to the heiress. As Weiss had mentioned once, sugary jelly spiked with pure vodka could hardly be counted as proper food.

"They're red and green," Weiss answered plainly. "I thought they would be festive."

"Aw, princess, you're so sweet." Yang grinned playfully before remembering something she had brought in her bag. "Oh, and before I forget!"

She rummaged around inside the flap and dug out a small gift box, terribly wrapped as the blonde made it herself at work.

"Here, it's... It's a..." Yang's eyes suddenly widened as she gaped at the present in her hand. The pink wrapping paper began to connect with a somewhat distant memory. Weiss and Ruby waited questionably as the blonde remained frozen for a solid minute, before finally breaking out of her statue form. "Blake!"

"It's a... What?" The two bystanders asked in unison.

Without another word of explanation, Yang handed the package into Weiss's hands.

"No, it's nothing. I just remembered where I heard that name before," Yang muttered as she rubbed the side of her head.

"So, who is this Blake?" Weiss inquired expectantly.

"She's, uh..."

"Oh! Oh! Is she your new girlfriend?" Ruby beamed in speculation. "Are you _finally_ dating again?"

"What- No! Nothing like that!" Yang furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "And what do you mean by _finally?_ "

"You know what I'm talking about." Ruby frowned, giving her sister a knowing glance. "Yang, you haven't gone out on a date for the past _year_."

"A year? No way!" Yang dismissed it, as if it were the most absurd thing she heard today. "I've gone out plenty of times!"

"You've gone out once with Jaune. Once with Coco. A million times with Sun and Neptune, none of which count as a date in _this_ universe and... Yeah, you did go out on a date once with that bearded guy who works at the club, but I really don't want to include him in my list of prospects, so..." Ruby concluded, flashing up a total of four fingers. "So correction, dear sister, you've gone 'out' a couple of times, but no, you haven't gone out-out at all."

"Okay, so I may have been in a bit of a dry spell lately." Yang shrugged, moving away from Ruby towards the punch bowls. "But I don't mind."

"I hope you're not just scared of going back out there again," Ruby said honestly as she followed her sister's footsteps; Weiss fell behind, momentarily distracted by the sound of a lamp breaking from across the room.

"Hey! _You_ said that maybe I should wait for her to find me," Yang wisely quoted her from the past. "So that's exactly what I'm doing."

Ruby rolled her eyes in response. "Well, I didn't think you would take _that_ part so literally."

"Just go and enjoy the party, sis!" Yang insisted, genuinely as she raised her cup of punch in the air. "Because I am fine!"

And before her sister could prod further on, Yang allowed herself to be engulfed by the crowd. There had been no lies told at the party; she didn't feel down at all, as she had told Ruby.

It was because, for the first time since Neo, she had found a lead to go on.

Weiss rejoined Ruby, carrying a few cookies tucked into napkins, which the other took with immense gratitude.

"It seems as though Yang gave me a few refrigerator magnets shaped like ice cream cones for Christmas this year," Weiss shared. "I must say, this wouldn't have topped the Frosty the Snowman figurine she got me for my birthday... If she hadn't included this note."

"What's it say?" Ruby wondered out loud.

"Some _Weiss-_ cream for the Ice Queen." Ruby laughed, seeing the small twitch at the corner of Weiss's lips, marking a very nominal appreciation of the joke.

"Ah. My sister, the poet."

Sighing, the heiress gently took her partner's hand. "Are you still worried about her?"

"...Nah. I don't think so. Not anymore." Ruby smirked, with a suggestive glint in her eyes. "She has that look."

"What look?" To Weiss, Yang's appearance was far from anything atypical. It was understandable for the Ice Queen not to recognize it, as she didn't spend most of her life with the blonde. But for Ruby, it was second nature to notice that additional inch at the end of each smile, that extra quantity of goof on her sister's expressions, indicating as clear as day that the blonde was up to no good.

"Lock-down mode!" Neptune shouted before draining his cup down to the last drop. "Yeah!"

"Hey, we found this awesome noodle stand across from Junior's club yesterday," Sun mentioned as he drank some of his own punch. "Want to grab lunch over there tomorrow?"

"Nah, I can't." Yang grinned. "I'm going to the mall."

* * *

It was a far-off shot. The chances of Blake working at the same place at the same time were slim, close to none, a similar probability as Weiss eating out of a bowl with her hands, Yang assumed.

The idea was quite far-fetched and frankly, a bit stupid. If she wasn't there, that would be the end of the story. Yang wouldn't bother to search any further for someone who she had only seen once, during the most inconvenient of times she might add. Yang didn't even know if Blake was interested in men or women.

But deep down, she was a hopeless romantic, a closet idealist who secretly cooed over stories of star-crossed lovers. And for some reason, her instincts were telling her now to take the odd redhead she met at the train station as some cosmic sign. Counting on fate, Yang made a trip back to the shopping mall.

As she arrived at the spot, Yang thought she must have been a praiseworthy hero in another life. Because despite all the unfortunate plays that could have occurred, destiny had answered. Yang saw, from a short distance away, a woman with jet-black hair and golden eyes sitting behind the counter. Hurriedly, she squeezed her way into the line, standing by nervously, until it was finally her turn.

"Hello," a lackluster voice welcomed her, clashing with the jolly Santa hat sitting on top of her head. "How may I help you today?"

"Hi!" was all that the blonde could say before becoming antsy once again.

It took a few seconds for an exhausted Blake to look up. At first, all she saw was a tall, nicely toned woman, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans that were too thin to wear in the middle of winter. No part of her outfit matched with the icy weather outside, expect perhaps the warm orange scarf she had draped around her neck. It was not until she peered up at the long mane of yellow hair, bright as the blazing sun, that her brain clicked on in recognition.

"Weren't you...that girl with the cooler?" Blake couldn't help but ask.

A twinge of red appeared at her cheeks. Then, the blonde fervently began to nod, stretching out an open palm for her to shake.

"Hey, Blake! It's me again!" Yang waited a few moments longer for the girl to slowly, and cautiously, shake her hand. But Blake's rather guarded demeanor did little to discourage Yang. She lingered, perhaps, for a little too long.

"So, um, what can I do for you today?" Embarrassed, Blake quickly retracted her hand and returned to her job. Yang gave a minute smile as she pulled her backpack over her head and searched inside it. Quickly, she pulled out the first thing she could find, which was conveniently a Christmas present she had bought for Ruby. It was the latest edition of a fantasy-adventure series her sister liked to read.

"No ice cream this time?" Finally, a familiar smirk came upon Blake's face. Yang only just noticed the way her almond eyes rose at the margins, with bluish-purple eye shadow flaring backwards, giving the woman a very feline appearance.

"Nope." She laughed nervously, careful to break the following news. "That didn't work out at all last year."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." A tiny frown formed on Blake's lips. But she couldn't stay distracted for too long, noticing the growing line behind Yang. With the clearing of her throat, Blake forced herself to ask. "Well, which pattern would you like me to use?"

"Red. Definitely red." Yang smiled. "It's a gift for my baby sister, and that's her favorite color."

"How old is she?" Blake asked softly as her fingers busily moved to slice out a roll of the parcel.

"Twenty-two."

Blake chuckled again. She had expected the sister to be much younger when the blonde used the word "baby." It seemed as though her visitor still remained greatly unpredictable in her own peculiar ways.

"So..." Yang dragged on, fully aware of the fact that she had not rehearsed any pick-up lines prior to this meeting. She settled on Blake's face, resolving to shower her with flattery when she noticed the shadow under her eyes.

"You look terrible," an awfully blunt statement escaped from the blonde. Blake paused, a narrow strip of tape still attached to the corner tip of her index finger.

Yang blinked stupidly, realizing how offensively the girl may have taken her words.

"I mean, no!" Yang continued on hastily. "I don't mean that you look bad! It's just you- you look more tired than the last time we met."

Blake simply bobbed her head in acceptance. "I am a bit tired."

"Crazy lovers with bear rugs again?" Yang joked as she started to remember the most minor details of their prior conversation.

"Oh, none of that, thankfully. It's just that I've taken over as manager this year. It's a lot more work than I signed up for, but I need the extra cash," Blake sighed, before wordlessly holding up an assortment of long, narrow fabrics to choose from.

"The black one." Yang pointed and set Blake off to work again as she placed the dark ribbon on top of the package. "So does that mean I should call you General... Uh... General..."

The blonde stammered, realizing that she had no clue what the girl's last name was. Blake grinned helpfully from across the table.

"Belladonna," said the girl, smoothly as she turned the book over, crossing the ribbons in a complicated manner. "And no, just the first name is fine."

"Okay then, Blake." Yang smacked her lips together, ready to say something clever and charming.

However, even as the top bow was forming, Yang couldn't find herself uttering a single word. Normally, some flirtatious small talk and winks would have sealed the deal. But everything about this girl screamed composure, her unruffled and witty retorts, making the already attractive girl even more fascinating. And the more appealing her target became, the less productive her brain turned. She had racked her mind for the passing twenty-six seconds, waiting for a line or two to come along, but nothing had been imagined as Blake looked up, the finished gift pushed towards her side of the table.

"Uh..." Yang took the book in her left hand. "Thanks."

"That will be four dollars." Glumly, the blonde passed the girl her exact change before being pushed out of the way. With a loud, audible sigh, Yang walked off. Before leaving, she stole a glance behind her. Blake was already greeting her next customer, a large mustached man with a coffee grinder.

At the last moment, Blake gazed up at the figure growing smaller into the crowd. She didn't notice until much later that she hadn't been wearing her name tag at all.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You're telling us that you stalked down a girl you met last year, a girl whom you forced to wrap a decent present for you, just so that you can use it to win your ex-girlfriend back?"

The three of them were slackened in front of a cozy electric fire at the Xiao Long residence. Weiss, sprawled across Ruby's couch on her stomach, had been the first to make a remark.

"Please don't make it sound like I'm some crazy person." Yang groaned, her actions sounding worse when told by the painfully straightforward Ice Queen. "And I did not _stalk_ her. Do not use the word stalked."

"I'm speechless."

"Well, _that_ certainly is a first."

"I think it's great!" Lying comfortably on the carpet, with Zwei sleeping on top of her, Ruby interrupted their bickering. She bore an understanding expression, as she had already experienced many of her sister's crazy tactics in the past. "I mean, this isn't even her worst one. Once she tried to impress this girl at her gym by-"

"Okay, okay! Let's not go there." Yang cut off her words, waving her arms around in defeat. "The point is that... This is destiny! A random girl I met a year ago mentions the name of another random girl I met a year ago. I go back to the place where I met her and, boom, there she is! Looking super..."

For a brief period of time, Yang stared up at the ceiling of the house, gaily recalling the images of golden cat-like eyes.

"She's so...cool." The blonde gulped, feeling the good kind of queasy in her stomach for the first time in months. "Now, _that's_ fate!"

"I seriously doubt that fate had anything to do with this." Weiss scoffed. "Especially since serendipity has never been kind to either of you."

"It's been pretty nice to me!" Ruby argued, sitting up too quickly, and causing Zwei to yelp in surprise. "I got _you_ , didn't I?"

"Yes... After breaking an arm, hanging around as a friend for more than a year, and getting drunk once at a party... You got me," Weiss added sarcastically. "You're right. We should send serendipity a thank you card this year."

"But we still ended up together!" Ruby maintained her position on the matter. "See! Fate's just a bit sadistic, that's all. It likes to have its fun before matching you up with the perfect one! So Yang, you're going to march back to that mall tomorrow and you are going to ask that girl out!"

"Right!" Yang nodded fiercely, sharing Ruby's look of hope and determination. Weiss chose to ignore the both of them, playing with an abandoned Zwei and his chew toy instead.

* * *

"Oh... You're back."

It had been just yesterday when Blake was able to reacquaint herself with the intriguing blonde she met last year. She had called Penny over the phone, recounting this coincidental story, when her friend simply chortled in response, stating that she had also sighted the blonde at a local train station.

At this point, Blake was sure she used up all her supply of luck, believing that she would never have enough fortune to see the blonde again. But the very next day, her mysterious crush had been the first to show up at the counter. Yesterday, it took great efforts to keep up a calm and sane attitude. Two days in a row, however, she didn't think she could do it.

"Hey, Blake!" The blonde waved happily as she walked on over. "How are you doing today?"

"Your name." Blake found herself blurting out the instant the girl approached the table.

"Huh?"

"You never told me your name," Blake expanded quietly. Fortunately, the blonde was able to hear it.

"Oh, crap! I never did, did I?" The blonde smacked herself quite harshly on the forehead. "I'm Yang! Yang Xiao Long."

"Hello, Yang." Blake played with the name on her lips. "It's nice to see you again."

She saw, what she hoped to be a badly concealed blush on her visitor's face.

"Yeah, you too..." The blonde nervously mumbled.

"So... What brings you here today?" Blake offered a welcoming smile, feeling more refreshed than she had been throughout the chaotic week. She watched as the blonde pulled out yet another book from her bag.

"It's for my sister again. I forgot to get this one yesterday." Knowing well which color she needed to use then, she cut out a large rectangle of red.

But before she proceeded to fold the sides, Blake titled her head in amusement as she picked up the thin hardcover. It was a picture book, she observed: The tale of Little Red Riding Hood - reading material hardly age appropriate for an adult.

"It's a gag gift," Yang told her quickly. "I used to read it to her all the time when she was little and that was her favorite story. She's growing old now, but I like to remind her every now and then that she's still my baby sister."

Blake smiled understandingly as she resumed with the wrapping, tearing strips of tape and neatly placing them in every tucked corner.

"She loves to read." Yang then frowned, with little comprehension apparent on her visage. "Although books aren't really my thing..."

"Oh?" Blake knew that not all people could share the same interests. Nonetheless, she had failed to keep the disappointment out of her voice, leading the smile on Yang's face to falter for a bit.

"I'm guessing by the sound of that 'oh' that you love to read too, huh?" Yang asked sheepishly.

"Yes..." She smiled faintly. "I'm a writer actually."

"What? Really?" Immediately, her lilac eyes widened in downright awe. "That's awesome! What'd you write? Is there anything I would have heard of?"

"No! Not at all!" Blake rushed, turning pink in mortifying embarrassment. But the clueless blonde persisted on asking questions about her written work, forcing Blake to wrap the present so fast that even _she_ was surprised at the final product in her hands.

Feeling remorseful, Blake took the money from a pouting Yang. The blonde seemed to be contemplating whether or not she wanted to say anything else. But another customer chose the moment to cut in and Yang left once again without another word.

* * *

The door slammed open with a loud bang.

An alarmed Ruby and Weiss broke their heated kiss and turned towards the front entrance from the living room couch. Yang had arrived, kicking off her shoes and shedding her coat like a butterfly hatching from a cocoon. Grabbing the shopping bag she had set down on the floor, she ran up the staircase, not forgetting to yell to the couple below her, "Just because it's been a year doesn't mean I want to see that, Schnee!"

The pair shared a mystified glance before chasing the blonde to her room on the second floor. What they saw when they entered was not what they had been expecting at all.

"You... You're reading?" Ruby's face became the epitome of shock as she drew in closer. When the girl noticed that it was undoubtedly a full-fledged novel in her sister's hands, Ruby bolted out the door, screaming bloody murder that the world was about to come to an end. Weiss stayed behind, looking more closely at the cover in Yang's hands.

"My Own Liberation," the title read, by Blake Belladonna.

She gave the blonde a look of stunned silence, unable to decide whether she should be impressed or concerned.

"You do know that you try _way_ too hard to get laid?"

"Stop crapping on love, Weiss."

* * *

By this point, a formal trade of greetings wasn't even needed as the two surveyed each other.

"You know... Normally, people do all of their Christmas shopping in one day." Blake smirked at her last customer of the evening. "That way, they don't have to make the same trip three days in a row."

"Hey, you're talking to the crazy cooler girl, remember?" Yang pointed at herself with unprecedented pride. "There's nothing I can't do."

"What did you shop for today then?"

"Actually, I didn't come today to shop," Yang murmured, brushing down her hair tensely, "or to get any presents wrapped."

Blake hardly blinked, waiting quite patiently for the blonde to finish her speech.

"I came to ask you... If you want to go for a cup of coffee now?" Yang asked in a slow pace, fearing that if spoken too quickly she would set off a vital organ. Her heart was hammering in her chest, almost deafening to her own ears that she was sure that Blake would be hearing it too. "I mean, I never did pay for that first present you put a bow around."

Yang often found herself at the opposite ends of two very different personalities. At times, she was the confident, assertive woman she was proud to be. Other times, not so much... But Ruby had become wise enough to teach her that love was sporadic. It was unpredictable.

She knew for sure that the sentiment she was feeling towards this girl was, for now, a strong form of attraction and deep intrigue.

Would it last?

She didn't know.

Would it one day grow stronger to a force so deep she could dare say call it love?

She could hardly tell.

No one knew going in if their relationships would work or if they wouldn't last. Weiss confessed that she certainly didn't believe Ruby would come to mean so much to her as she does now. And if Yang were back on that train where she met Neo, she would have never known how messy the two's ending would become. But as a brave little girl once proved to her with a broken arm, she would always have to take the risk to find out.

So, Yang smiled brightly when those beautiful amber eyes sparkled at her request.

"That sounds lovely." Blake's lips curved into a relieved smile.

Yang moved onward, not knowing that exactly four years from now she would be happily married to the woman currently standing to her right. Not knowing that for every future how-we-met-each-other story told, she would be discrediting Ruby's advice, stating that it hadn't been Blake who found her... She had been the one to find Blake; Yang simply didn't realize it at the time.


	6. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 1)

**Title:** Wandered Ancient Lands

 **Song Prompt:** The Sore Feet Song by Ally Kerr

 **Genre:** Adventure/Friendship/Romance/Drama/Modern AU

 **Major Characters:** Blake, Yang, Jaune, Pyrrha

 **Minor Characters:** Adam, Ruby, Weiss

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee, Arkos, White Rose

 **Synopsis:** Two old friends, artists of their own world, embark on a journey to heal their hearts and to capture some of the most enchanting wonders of the earth. Their search, however, may be hopelessly delayed as a certain travel writer regrets having left her fellow photographer in charge of the maps. Stranded in one of the most deserted valleys known to man, Blake would be willing to accept any means of help, even if it comes in the form of a very boisterous blonde and her red-haired companion.

* * *

 _"_ _I walked ten thousand miles, ten thousand miles to see you.  
_ _And every gasp of breath I grabbed at just to find you.  
_ _I climbed up every hill to get to you.  
_ _I wandered ancient lands to hold just you._

 _And every single step of the way of pain  
_ _Every single night and day  
_ _I searched for you.  
_ _Through sandstorms and hazy dawns, I reached for you._ _"_

* * *

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall," a giddy blonde chanted happily, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as she hummed along to the tune. "Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-eight bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, ninety-seven bottles of beer on the wall-"

"Yang," a voice next to her said in a weary tone.

"Oops, was I doing it again?" Yang Xiao Long gave a moderately apologetic grin. "My bad. I'm just so excited, you know? We haven't gone on a trip in forever."

"How about you wait for us to at least hit the road first?" Pyrrha Nikos, her best friend, suggested with a smile.

"Yeah, about that..." The blonde frowned in impatience, leaning out the car window to yell from the driveway. "What is taking you guys so long?"

"Wait!" A deafening crash echoed from the front entrance as two figures emerged through it. The first was Ruby Rose, Yang's sister, who was now a hardworking junior at college. Ruby was walking slowly, and carefully, as her vision was momentarily impaired by the pile of towering boxes in front of her. A white-haired girl of similar height ran out the door behind her, painfully carrying a few heavy bottles of water in both arms. This was Weiss Schnee, a friend of Ruby's from college, as well as an old high school classmate to Pyrrha in the ninth grade.

"What in the...?" Yang gaped, dumbfounded, at her little sister for a second before jumping out of the car and taking some of the load into her own hands. Looking inside, she realized that they were packets of dried meat along with a few energy bars and dried fruit in transparent containers.

Pyrrha climbed out of her seat too, mildly amused as she opened up the back trunk, and then proceeded to help Weiss with her luggage. "What is all this?"

"There's more in the living room but it's too heavy to lift," Ruby grunted as she shoved the boxes into the boot of the car. In response to this, Yang jogged into the house and with widened eyes counted down at least ten containers of two-liter water bottles sprawled across the hardwood floor.

"Uh, so when you said to come by the house before you go, I have a couple of things to give you..." Yang passed Ruby a disbelieving expression. "You meant that you wanted to give us huge crates of beef jerky and enough water to fill the whole Nile?"

"Dad wanted me to keep an eye out for you, make sure you don't get yourself killed or anything," Ruby explained plainly.

The blonde frowned at these words. "He does know that _I'm_ the older one, right?"

"Yeah, but sometimes I think you're convincing enough for him to doubt it."

"Fair enough."

"Also, I researched the place you two are going to and it didn't seem that prominent...or safe," Weiss said in a matter of fact way. "It wouldn't be right for you to die out in some valley, as Ruby would have a fit. Dehydration and malnourishment can be leading causes of sicknesses or death in isolated places too close to the sun, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to be over-prepared."

"Oh, then this is _your_ doing. Now it makes sense." Yang grinned, the overbearing aspect of the gesture feeling very familiar to her now. "You do know that we prepared this kind of stuff ourselves?"

"Forgive me if I didn't want to take any chances," Weiss huffed. "Also, Ruby didn't mention to me until the last minute that Pyrrha would be going along with you. If I knew she was coming, I wouldn't have done all this. Frankly, I didn't think she had the time."

"Yeah... It was kind of a rushed agreement." Yang decided that it was best not to divulge the real reason for Pyrrha's sudden eagerness to join her on the road. "Best not to talk about it here."

Weiss nodded understandingly. "If you say so."

"...Welp! Don't miss me too much when I'm gone!" Yang patted Weiss on the back, a bit too strong as the latter almost toppled over. "It's going to be weird not hearing you and Ruby bicker for a week or so."

"Of course." Weiss frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together in frustration for a moment before she breathed out heavily. "And Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"You remember the conversation we had about a month ago?" Weiss whispered quickly as she fully confronted the blonde, turning her back on the scene of Ruby and Pyrrha struggling to shut the door before choosing to remove some of the baggage instead.

"Sure I do," Yang replied, trying hard not to laugh. It had been a hilarious exchange of hearts, to put it mildly. Weiss had called her out to a bar downtown, finishing more cocktails than the blonde had ever seen the girl order, before finally building up enough nerve to ask whether or not she would be allowed to be Ruby's girlfriend.

It was a known truth to everyone else in their social circle, except for Ruby of course, that Weiss had feelings for the girl. Yang had been initially cautious, finding it hard to believe that such a no-nonsense woman would be able to find any sort of appeal in Ruby, a girl at the farthest opposite end of a serious personality. But there hadn't been any reasons for Yang to not be supportive, especially since she discovered that despite having a prickly, prideful exterior, Weiss was caring, nice, and as socially awkward as her sister was in the inside.

Yang had laughed, almost offensively loud, at the question, immediately letting Weiss know that it was absolutely ridiculous of her to think that she even _needed_ the blonde's permission. Yang doubted that there were rules to these sort of affairs, but she was nonetheless grateful that Weiss had done so because it meant the girl understood how close the two sisters were to each other and had obviously cared enough about the blonde's feelings to check with her first.

The conversation became even more comical, at least for Yang, as she listened to Weiss's undecided plans on telling her crush how she felt. Ultimately, Weiss resolved to invite Ruby to dinner at a fancy restaurant then casually lay it out on the table. However, the very next day, when an expecting blonde waved over at them, calling them two 'lovebirds' at the top of her lungs, she realized that Weiss had chickened out once again; a confused, but clueless, Ruby remained blind to the situation. In efforts to cheering up the somber maiden, the blonde told her that she would be rooting for her from the sidelines, waiting to celebrate with her when the day finally comes.

"That offer's still good, right?" Weiss asked quietly.

Yang winked. "The champagne's still in my room."

"Good," she said determinedly. "Because I am _not_ going to back down this time."

"Aw, and I won't be around to take pictures?"

Before Weiss could respond with something witty, she was intervened by the slamming of a car trunk.

"Done! I guess you can start your adventure now." Ruby smiled triumphantly at them.

"Not before I get my hugs!" Yang shouted, tackling her little sister into a bone-crunching embrace. With oxygen becoming an issue, Ruby broke the hold, gasping out for fresh air. Far from discouraged, Yang went on to her next victim; Weiss braced herself, knowing that neither could she avoid the inevitable.

"Take care of my sister, Pyrrha," Ruby said as she comfortably hugged her other friend. "Please don't let her get lost."

"I'll try not to." Pyrrha smiled reassuringly.

"And take care of _my_ sister, Weiss," Yang emphasized as well. "Don't let her sleep through any more of her morning classes."

"I'm not a miracle worker," Weiss mumbled in reply, ignoring the tiny "Hey!" of betrayal coming from her right.

* * *

Remnant Valley was a geological marvel. The entrance of it, a large area of desert land drawn outwards for extensive miles until the arid, rocky surfaces and sanded carpets finally led to the open mouth of a large canyon. The deep gorge was covered between mountains and surrounded by small mounds of cliff valleys for a thousand mile radius.

Despite its beauty, the region remained unpopular with a majority of passing tourists, mostly due to the fact that its trails were too difficult and complicated for any novice hikers. Long hikes out under the blazing star, intricate network of paths and stone walls in the main canyon, and the capricious weather conditions, fluctuating temperatures tending to rise as high as a hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit and falling below zero during nightfall, were all reasons present on the list.

Like any other dangerous districts, however, the place continued to exist as a blood pumping challenge for adventure nuts and thrill seekers, inviting in an apt number of risk takers each year, like the two individuals wandering out below the sun on the morning of a mid-August day.

"Do you even know where you're going?"

A young woman walked on soundlessly; a black ribbon wrapped her hair into a loose ponytail, which moved softly behind her as she trudged across the land of waterless dirt. With a whooshing sound, a sudden blow of warm wind enveloped her. She absentmindedly swept her bangs out of her eyes, forcing herself to squint at the vast mass of dry earth lying in front of her as she breathed in the smell of hot sand.

"I'll take that as a no." The same husky voice of a man teased her from the side. Only a grunt escaped from the girl's lips as she readjusted the weight of the hiking gear on her back. Sounds of disappointment filled the silence.

"Are you planning on ignoring me for the rest of the day?" She could practically see the man's childish pout. Stopping in her tracks, the woman sighed and cautiously turned her neck towards her left. Just as she suspected, she saw a familiar pair of crimson eyes staring back at her, lasting no more than a few seconds before somebody else distracted her from behind. This voice, though male, was much more high-pitched.

"Blake...!" It cried out her name, drawing out the middle vowel longer than one should. She tilted her head a minuscule amount, glimpsing sideways to see a tall boy with messy mustard-yellow hair, waving frenetically at her. By then, the man by her side had already vanished.

"Hello, could you stop spacing out, please?" The blond panted as he finally caught up with her. "Hello? Blake? Um, are you still mad at me?"

His gesture snapped her out of a light daze. Blake Belladonna merely narrowed her eyes in return. "What do you think?"

"No?" He grinned weakly, a tone of high hope etched into the single word. A blank expression greeted Jaune Arc, reminding the poor boy, for the third time in the past hour, of his mistake.

"Why did I leave you in charge of the maps again?" Blake sighed.

"Come on..." Jaune complained. "I said I was sorry! I forgot them!"

"How could you forget?" Blake groaned. "I called you last night, just to make sure you bring them. My last words were: Good Night, Jaune. Make sure you pack the maps."

"...Oh. Right." He nodded rather slowly. "Wow. Why _did_ you leave me in charge of the maps?"

It took years of having endured the boy's clumsiness and blunders for Blake not to bury him alive in a nearby pit. Instead, she sat down in defeat, feeling a great need to rest.

"I am telling you, we're lost," she said after a long pause, gazing out at the horizon with a troubled expression.

"Okay, to be fair, since we don't know where we're going anymore, we can't be lost." Jaune chuckled nervously, ranting as he walked around in aimless, dizzy circles. "Don't think of it as getting lost. If we start _thinking_ that we're lost, then we would actually be lost. So think of it as...exploring new territories. We're not lost. We're making meaningful detours."

Blake shot him an irritated glance. "Do I look like Dora the explorer to you?"

"Of course not. Dora had a map."

It was absolutely not Blake's intentions, to trip Jaune as he moved past her foot. But he did, in fact, fall face-forward onto the desert floor.

"Ugh..." He moaned, raising his head and spitting some dirt out of his mouth. "I probably deserved that."

"...Jaune."

"If you want to get a few hits in too, I don't mind." He waved his arm feebly in the air, motioning for the girl to take her best shot. "As long as it makes you feel better."

"No, Jaune," Blake pointed as she added, "Look over there."

He followed the direction of her finger. Standing on four legs, several feet away from them, was a small creature. Two furry paws dug down, creating a tiny niche into the dirt floor. Large ears perked up at the slightest of sound, a pair of big brown eyes searching high and low, as a lone desert fox continued with its burrow.

Jaune remained on the ground, quietly moving his arms towards the top corners of his rucksack which was still latched onto his spine. Blake took a gentle step forward, careful not to make any loud sounds or sudden big movements. Noiselessly, she helped him open up the flap of his bag, in an instant finding the digital camera resting peacefully on top of the rest of his luggage. Gently, she pulled it out and passed it down into her partner's fumbling hands.

Slowly, Jaune loosened the lid of his Nikon, settling it down beside him, and pressed his face against the eyepiece, aiming the camera towards the prowling animal, following it with great patience. He focused in on his target, moments before it opened its mouth, revealing tiny baby fangs and a misty pink tongue.

He pressed the shutter button and with a small clicking sound, the moment had been captured. As if the mammal had been politely waiting for the human to finish, it bounded off seconds after the shot had been taken, disappearing out of sight into several erratic bushes.

"Yes!" Jaune yelled in triumph, scrambling back up to his feet. Pushing the playback button, he nudged the monitor screen closer to his friend so that she could see. "Well?"

She peered down at the very candid photo of a desert fox caught at the climax of its yawn. "It's nice."

The excitement on Jaune's face was hard to miss, reminding Blake that these special moments were the reasons why they chose to travel together.

"See? We're off to a great start already. Now all we have to do is- Oh my god, Blake! Is that a scorpion?"

Of course, he never took too long to prove her otherwise.

"Blake...!" Jaune froze, watching as the arachnid crawled a couple of inches away from his battered shoes. "Do something!"

"It looks like a death stalker." Blake stood by unhelpfully as she observed.

"That's great!" He rolled his eyes at her appalling manner. "At least you know the _name_ of the creature that will kill me!"

"Um... Just don't move and-"

"It's all right. I got this under control. I read an article about this somewhere." Jaune gulped, closing his eyes and stepping backward in slow motion. "Stand perfectly still. Then change course and walk away from it gently. If it's ready to attack...then stamp on the ground in attempts of scaring it off with vibrations... No, wait..."

He cringed, his closed eyes tightening even more out of fear. "That was for snakes. Snakes, not scorpions! Blake! Is it still there? Is its stinger pointing in my general direction?"

"It's gone, Jaune."

"Oh."


	7. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 2)

"I spy with my little eyes...something yellow." Jaune decided after carefully inspecting his surroundings and settling his vision towards the cloudless sky. His partner, walking alongside him, elicited no response, keeping her golden irises on the ground. Scratching the back of his head, he tossed in another flimsy hint. "And it...uh...it hurts to look at...?"

Only the sounds of sand and gravel moving underneath their shoes answered him. Dissatisfied, the blond chided, "You know the whole point of this game is for you to make guesses, right?"

"The sun," was her simple and final conjecture.

He cocked his eyebrow in annoyance, adding on bitingly, "...and not to guess the right answer too quickly."

"Jaune, there's not much to choose from here." Blake smirked, her glance flickering towards his untidy spikes. "So unless you were talking about your hair, it was pretty obvious."

"Hey! Nothing is wrong with my hair," The photographer replied hotly, his fingers patting down his blond strands in vain, before grinning at his friend with rediscovered motivation. "Fine, I'll think of another game to play."

This provoked a resentful groan from the girl. "That's really not what I meant at all."

"Come on! You used to _love_ playing games," Jaune whined, knowing fully well that he had not enough evidence to ever prove this.

"In this universe?" A mocking reply came in the tone of fabricated surprise. "I'm terribly sorry. You must have me mixed up with a different Blake Belladonna. The one living in an alternate dimension and playing board games in the library with all of you."

"I wish I knew _that_ Blake," he joked. "She sounds like a lot of fun."

"I highly doubt it." The photographer was skeptical of it too, wondering if there was any moment in time, including all of her possible past lives or alternative personas, that his calm friend was ever a rowdy, boisterous party girl. Although she did have her shining moments, Jaune noted as he dug up an old memory.

"What about that one night in college though? When you, me, Ren and Nora... We had a Halloween party of our own and we played Monopoly?"

Blake's visage remained as disinterested as usual, but leaning in closer, the man could see the ever-so-slight blush forming on the girl's cheeks.

"And you had a whole bottle of sherry by yourself?" The flush became more apparent as he continued slyly. This would definitely be the hallmark of shame she would be wearing for the rest of her life.

"It was amazing! You took all of the Monopoly money in the room and shoved a bunch of it in your wallet." He caught himself in a fit of laughter, coughing and wheezing in between bits. "Ren and I had to practically fight you to keep you from going outside and spending it."

"Then at one point, you started acting like your costume, which was a cat." The image of the girl, who already had quite feline physical characteristics to begin with, curled up on the ground, soft snores coming off as realistic purrs, would always lie in that small compartment of his brain so long as he lives. And even after his departure, there would still be pictures left to prove that it had happened.

"Man, how did that party end?" Still sniggering, he asked her for clarification. "The last parts are a blur to me."

"Of course," she scoffed, having found the embarrassing details of his story unnecessary. Vaguely remembering glimpses from the occasion when she had been carelessly intoxicated, she replied, "When I woke up...you were passed out on the ground. I think Nora accidentally smashed you on the head with the toy hammer from her costume. Ren was cleaning up the mess and..."

It was unnatural how quickly the mood of a conversation could freeze over.

As if an anchor had been dropped on dry land, her body went rigid.

Stopping in his tracks as well, Jaune studied her, eyes widening in regret, as she drifted off into silence, an impassive countenance brewing on her face. He knew that look, and he could say for certain, that amongst all distressing aspects of the world that he hated to discern – poverty, violence, and pollution included – he equally hated having to see that expression on the girl. That inscrutable façade she wore, making it impossible to approach her.

The man mentally slapped himself for having let it slip from his mind how this story ended with a downside in retrospect.

"And then...Adam came and picked me up."

She had said it. She had enunciated the name, so clearly, so steadily that passing birds a hundred feet above them could have heard it. Before he realized it, Jaune was holding his breath, carefully watching the girl, anticipating, almost hopefully waiting for any subtle changes in her manner. Yet nothing came, the neutrality prevailing as placid as ever. As if she was speaking about a man who meant nothing to her.

As if she wasn't talking of a dead man.

"Don't start..." As if clairvoyant, Blake cut him off before he could utter out a single world. Staring at the ground, she silently watched particles of sand dance away in the wind. "I don't want to talk about it."

"...You need to...Blake..." The photographer urged anxiously. "You haven't talked about it since-"

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped. The statement came out, so adamant and firm, that she could have more or less shut his jaws together forcefully with her hands.

Even from their first meeting, Jaune had acknowledged right away that Blake did not accept help from anyone. She maintained this untouchable aura that warned others that she didn't want people getting too close to her. Jaune and his friends had managed to break that jinx, practically shoving themselves into her private circle.

These days, the barrier had returned. It was unnoticeable at first, as she still kept in contact, still joined them in meaningless chatter. Nonetheless, the invisible separation became more prevalent as months progressed on. She was there, physically. But the true Blake Belladonna they knew – sarcastic, cynical, and witty – she was nowhere to be found. A hollow shell, a shadow copy of her former self; that was all she had left behind in place to fool them, as her real spirit drifted away behind closed doors. And as much as he wanted to take Nora's toy hammer and simply smash the wall into pieces, he couldn't do it. Blake wouldn't allow him to do it.

"...Please." Her voice came out more shakily. It was almost a pleading; the rare show of emotion the girl let slip and it had been vulnerability. "Please, Jaune. I can't. Not here. Not now..."

And without another word, she walked on...as if nothing had happened.

The marks of her shoes left on the dirt seemed to beckon him on. Jaune stared at her quivering shoulders for a minute before following quickly; the lone figure of his partner moving away causing him to fear that if he let her, she would run away from him and never return.

The quietude of the desert engulfed them now. Blake had never been a talkative person, even on her best days. And now, with him having bitten down on his babbling tongue, both simmered in uncomfortable, dead silence.

This time, shockingly, it had been Blake who spoke first.

"So..." she asked him tentatively. "What did you want to play?"

He understood the implication.

She wasn't ready to talk and he couldn't force her to take on strides she wasn't ready to take. So he would do the only thing he can do. Respect her decisions and wait. And until then, he would be the goof everyone expected him to be.

He shined upon her a warm, understanding smile. "How about twenty questions?"

After a short sigh, the girl gave a tiny nod of approval. "Sure."

"You go first." He nudged her. After a few seconds, a light hum filled the air, letting the blond know that his companion was now thinking of the object he would have to speculate about. As Jaune waited, feeling the rays of the harsh sun strengthen in the afternoon, he picked up the water bottle from the side pocket of his backpack and took a long gulp to quench his thirst. The tension feebly leaving his body as liquid cooled the inner sides of his throat. Wiping his mouth with the ends of his shirt, he passed on the tumbler to Blake.

"Got it." She notified him before taking the pitcher and drinking a sip of water herself.

"Category?"

The girl leaned in closer, pulling the pocket outwards to its maximum capacity before gently placing the bottle back into its original position. "Animals."

"Okay... Let's see... Animals... Animals..." Footsteps slowing as his mind began to brainstorm actively. The girl steadied herself, matching to his pace as she embraced a more leisurely speed. "Does it live on land?"

"Yes."

"Can it fly?"

"No."

"Is it small?"

"Uh..." Blake requested. "Define small."

"Is it smaller than this?" He made a fist to create an object of comparison.

Shaking her head, she replied, "No. Much bigger than that."

"Can you ride it?"

"...I highly doubt it." Blake inwardly chuckled at the image of someone trying to be piggybacked by the certain animal she was thinking of.

"How many was that so far?"

"Four." Jaune nodded, folding the correct number of fingers to inform him with each passing turn. It took several more turns to pass until on the eleventh try he unknowingly gave a crucial inquiry.

"Does it live in a tree?"

"...Yes." He caught the pause in between.

Enliven eyes gawked at her, his hands already rising up in a too early victory. Eagerly, he hazarded a guess. "Is it a koala bear?"

She gave him a slightly smug look, slicing him with a firm, "No."

A sulky voice continued the game. "This calls for my free pass card. I get to ask something and it doesn't have to be a yes or no question."

"I'm sure this qualifies as cheating," was the deadpan remark.

"No, no. It's in the rule book." The blond leered at her, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. "Tell me... What kind of sounds does it make?"

"...I'm not sure," Blake replied honestly, almost laughing at the confused and crestfallen expression on the man's face. "It... It doesn't make any distinct sounds."

The subsequent turns merely consisted of Jaune listing any mammals that matched the previous descriptions: Pandas, orangutans, chipmunks, possums-

"Oh! Oh! I got it! A flying squirrel!"

"I already told you, Jaune. It can't fly," she kindly reminded him.

"Well, technically, they don't fly, they glide into-"

"No."

At the end of the twentieth turn, where he had given his last pitifully wrong estimate, the photographer finally shouted out, utterly beaten, "That's it! I don't know! What is it? What's the answer?"

"...A sloth."

The built-up suspense rose to its pinnacle then petered out in an anticlimactic way. Blue orbs widened at the name of the animal. After the image of a three-toed sloth lounging on top of a tree registered into his brain, the blond crossed his arms in annoyance and held the fellow game player responsible for foul play. "You said that the animal doesn't make any distinct noises!"

"Sloths _don't_ make a lot of noise," she insisted, pondering why that specific piece of information would be a problem.

"Yes, they do!" Jaune protested. His brows furrowing as he brought back another past story to use as evidence. "What about the so-called secret signal Nora makes when she wants to leave with Ren and do inappropriate things? She once told me that it is an imitation of a sloth."

"It's Nora." Blake tried to add on to her reasoning, but decided that readdressing their more than eccentric friend's name was enough. "It's...Nora."

"Then why doesn't Ren say anything about that?"

"He does." Her half-lid eyes rolled upwards. "You're always too distracted yelling at Nora to make a new code."

"Because _that_ is a very valid argument," Jaune fussed, distracted by the equally important point she had brought up. "I mean, what is the point of having a secret signal to avoid awkwardness if everybody knows what it means?"

The photographer cleared his throat, after a few more appeals he had given out were effectively countered by the girl's sole usage of monosyllables. "Anyways, okay, it's my turn and I'm going to make sure you don't cheat."

Blake merely glared at him for the invented statement.

"Let's see... The category shall be..." He induced a dragged out gap before crying out in alarm. "Car!"

"Cars?" Blake gave him a perplexed glance, about to let him down easy that she hardly knew twenty brands of cars when she saw exactly where his azure irises were fixated on. He hadn't been playing the game at all. For a large, yellow jeep was drawing closer, its roaring engine becoming audible to her as it grew near.

Remnant Valley had no policies against vehicles, so long as the individuals had a permit and stayed on designated paths. Nevertheless, Blake frowned at the sight of the approaching car. She had grown accustomed to the stillness out here in Mother Nature. On the occasions that she successfully blocked out Jaune's remarks, it was dead silent in these isolated areas, silent enough for her ears to actively search for sound. An avid admirer of peace and serenity, she had been pleased of how the park had been deserted of hikers, not to mention drivers. Now, tire wheels rolled loudly over the hot rocky surface, echoing out into the thick, open air.

"We should ask for directions!" Jaune lightened up as he ran forward, beginning to wave his arms wildly in the air in attempts to catch the vehicle. His colleague didn't stop him, reluctantly understanding that what he had said was true; her dire desires to check their current bearings chased away her customary unwillingness to converse with total strangers.

"Hey? Hey! Hello! Just a minute! Sir? A moment of your time, please?" He called out as the car had come near enough. As if the passengers had heard his words, the sounds of the running motor dulled slightly as the jeep pulled up beside Jaune, the engine still left to grumble. Standing a few feet away from the hood of the car, Blake made out two figures through the front window. The driver was most definitely not a "sir." And neither was the young woman sitting next to her.

The girl leaning through the window, with her black sunglasses shifting from side to side, was objectively very attractive. Slightly toned arms and shoulders were being flaunted, as the girl was wore an apricot orange tank top. Her face was fairly pale, most likely pastier from the thick coat of applied sunscreen. Shades covered the color of her orbs, though Blake was sure that they would be anything but ordinary after the sight of the woman's hair. Lengthy blonde hair, a more vivid hue than that of Jaune's, flowed to her waist in a loose and tangled fashion. A yellow mane so thick, she doubted that even constant brushing at its wavy strands would bring order to any of the locks rebelling out along the perimeter, like the lone cowlick standing on top of her head. Tearing away from the color of honey lemon, she silently assessed the other passenger.

This woman's appearance wasn't as alarming as the blonde, Blake noted. She was equally attractive, except her beauty wasn't as vivaciously emphasized as the girl sitting to her left. Unlike her companion, she wore a thin maroon shirt. Her demeanor was much calmer and courteous; gentle would be the most properly fitting word. Two hands folded nicely onto her lap, curious shamrock green orbs gazing at them politely. Nothing about her gave a vibrant first impression...except her flaming vermilion hair.

"Hello," a rather flirtatious voice drawled through the wide open window. "Can we help you?"

* * *

It had taken a day and a half of talking on and on, resting at gas stations and parking spaces, until they finally reached the deserted roads of Remnant Valley after twelve o'clock in the morning. Chattering on with excitement, Yang drove on. It was nice catching up with her friend, Pyrrha, who had been busy for endless periods of time. Granted, she _was_ one of the youngest, most anticipated tennis players for three consecutive years. Yang wouldn't have blamed the girl if she didn't contact her at all with such a promising professional life. Even with the fame, however, Pyrrha remained her natural self: unpretentious and modest.

"Wow." The blonde gave out a low whistle. "There's really nothing out here, is there? Hey, could you pass me another one of those Schnee care packages?"

"I think Weiss meant for us to save these for when we start the hike." Pyrrha commented with a laugh as she bent over towards the back, grabbing a pouch of enclosed beef before leaning back comfortably into her seat. She tore the side of its packaging and placed an uncut strip of jerky into the driver's mouth. "And I've been meaning to ask. Why _did_ you decide on this place?"

"I'm not sure. At first, I was going to go somewhere more famous... Then I thought...what would be the fun in that?" Yang tried to say, though her words were slightly difficult to understand as she gnawed against the slab of meat. "So I searched up top ten dangerous and remote places to hike at inside the country. There were a bunch of options and this one was the closest. And I don't know... I had a good feeling about this place."

The athlete smiled mischievously. "Hm... Dangerous, huh?"

"I thought you were always up for a challenge?" Yang teased, glancing to her right as she grabbed at the ends of the dried beef with one hand and breaking it off from the chewed piece in her jaws.

Pyrrha flashed a daring grin. "Try to keep up with me."

"...Hey..." Yang's eyes narrowed into crinkled slits as she returned her attention back onto the road. "Did I go through more packs of jerky than I should have or are those...people out there?"

"You did." Pyrrha frowned, as she saw the bundle of empty containers below her feet. Returning to the scenery, she squinted as well. "But no. I see them too. They're hikers...and I think they want to talk to us."

"Finally!" The blonde rapidly swallowed the rest of her food. "First human contact after we saw those old guys heading out. You remember right? The middle-aged man with the mustache that bounced?"

"Well... _They_ certainly aren't as old," Pyrrha stated as she saw that they appeared to be a young couple. The man ceased his waving as he saw that the car was slowing. Yellow hair, shooting out in all angles, moved pleasantly in the air as he approached; a camera strapped around his neck, thumping onto his chest with each step he took. There was nothing too visually appealing about him, the blonde decided. Yet, Pyrrha thought differently. Despite the scraggly condition his black longed sleeved shirt and baggy beige pants were in – both stained with streaks of sand and dirt – there was a special part about him that she couldn't quite fathom at the first glance.

Meanwhile, Yang's attention was solely perched on one silent figure standing in the desert, staring at the envious curves of the woman with dark hair, standing in a loose white shirt slung over her shoulders and black shorts that only went down to her mid-thighs. The blonde kept her sight lingering on the girl, thanking the cover her tinted glasses gave her.

Through the already opened window, Yang leaned out, her elbow resting on the side door. "Hello. Can we help you?"

"Yeah! We're kind of lost. You see, one of us may have forgotten to pack the map." It didn't take one to be a great observer to presume that the clumsy culprit had been the man, as the girl was glaring daggers at him from his side. "We were wondering if you knew the way to get to Vale canyon."

"Oh." Yang removed her shades, revealing two perfect lilac eyes. "We're heading over there too. I think you go straight from here. This place is huge and there are not a lot of directions given... Still, my friend's pretty good at reading the map, so I trust her with the way."

Pyrrha nodded quietly, holding up a folded map in her hands.

"That's great!" He beamed before turning to his female companion. "See! We were going the right way. And you thought we should have turned left at that weird rock. Boy, you must feel embarrassed now."

"No Jaune, _you_ wanted to turn left at that boulder."

"Yeah, uh huh, anyways thanks guys." The man turned to them again, ignoring the exasperated girl. "That's all we wanted to know."

"Sure, no problem." Yang laughed heartedly. "Hope you and your girlfriend have a nice time there."

"Oh, she's not my girlfriend. Definitely not my girlfriend." Jaune chuckled with good humor. His partner merely insulted at the wrongful assumption.

The blonde didn't say another word as Pyrrha waved them a little goodbye; the two hikers seemed to bicker for a moment before walking back out onto the arid paths.

Pyrrha shifted, opening up the map onto her lap and waiting patiently for the jeep to move forward again. Nevertheless, the engine continued to putter as the vehicle stayed in place. The redhead peered up at the blonde and saw a troublesome expression on her visage. "Yang...?"

Her friend didn't give any other explanations. She simply pressed on the pedal, catching up to the pair before them.

"Hey!" Yang called out to them in a jolly attitude. "You know, you guys might get lost without a map again and we're going to the same place anyway. Why don't you guys come along with us? The more the merrier, right?"

The young man had possibly thought about it, for barely a millisecond, before a cheery "Sure!" emerged out from him.

Excluding the impulsive blondes, the two sane figures in the valley stared at their respective partners with a look of incredulity, before informing the other group in a simultaneous, urgent murmur, "Excuse us for a minute."

Pyrrha dived forward, shooting her arm across the driver and rolling up the window in an instant before beginning to shout in a comically horrified voice. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Yang blinked, feigning innocence.

"Why are you inviting complete strangers into the car?" Green eyes strayed through the window to see the other blond, also being chastised by his partner.

"Come on." Yang dismissed with patent unconcern. "Strangers are just friends we haven't met yet!"

* * *

"It's fine! Strangers are just friends we haven't met yet."

"I don't care what your mother told you when you grew up," Blake said through gritted teeth, "We are not getting in a car with them."

"What could possibly go wrong?" Jaune asked, repeating the phrase most people use before finding themselves mired in a life threatening situation.

"How do we know if it's safe?" She whispered under her breath, eyeing the people in the jeep with extreme caution. "They could be thieves or...or serial killers."

"Yes, Blake. I'm sure those two nice ladies are plotting on how to throw themselves at us."

* * *

"He's single. You're single. I'm single. She's single. You get the picture?" The blonde gave her a lascivious wink.

"We are _not_ hitting on these people!" Pyrrha fought to keep on her scowl, aghast at the suggestion, although growing steadily amused at how reckless her friend can prove to be at the most oddest moments.

"Hey! When you travel is when you meet people. It's the perfect catch! You're together for a couple of days and if it doesn't work out...you don't have to see them ever again," The blonde explained fervently, trying to persuade the redhead. "No baggage!"

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that this ideology of yours is the reason most of your travel stories end with you hooking up with a random girl?" Pyrrha reflected, suppressing a smile at the mildly offended blonde.

"Okay, you haven't been with someone since _highschool._ And you're twenty four now. That's how long it's been." Yang narrowed her eyes. No matter how much she wanted to, the renowned tennis player could not deny these claims, as they were a hundred percent factual. She may be an ace on court; in spite of that her dating record read slim to almost non-existent. "And I get it. You were really busy, training and sweeping the floor in those tournaments. We're on _vacation_ though. So why don't you not think about it for once and learn to take some chances?"

"Besides..." Yang gestured towards the boy outside. "I mean...he seems...nice."

"Oh please," The athlete giggled, wearing a plain don't-you-lie-to-me profile. "You just want to talk to that girl."

"Well, can you blame me?" The blonde motioned her arms wildly towards the window. "Look at her!"

"You are shameless."

* * *

"The bottom line is..." Jaune exhaled deeply, ungluing his eyes from the girl's locked stance. "I know how much you want to get to that canyon as soon as possible. That's the whole reason for this trip, isn't it?"

Blake opened her mouth to argue, but stopped at his unrelenting stare, eventually endowing him a slow and bitter nod.

"I've gotten a lot of photos already on the walk and we can still sight-see from the car." He told her. "Trust me."

Uncrossing her arms, she gave him a worried glance. "What about your-"

Her phrase left interrupted as the photographer hadn't thought of waiting for her answer. He marched forward, back to the car, and tapped on the driver's window. The blonde grinned, immediately ridding the glass barrier between them. "Yes?"

He grinned hopefully. "Is that offer still good?"

"Hop in!" The driver yelled happily, unlocking the back entries to the car. However, the instant Jaune reached out and tugged on the side handle, a pile of boxes and plastic packages spilled out onto the ground.

"Uh..." He gaped up at the two passengers, one wearing an apologetic grin and the other barely concealing her laughter with an extensive fit of coughs.

* * *

Yang had hurriedly gotten out of the seat to pick up the junk, throwing the rest of it over into the trunk or onto the ground of the front row. Afterwards she turned to the two mysterious hikers who would be traveling with them and proposed a handshake.

"Hi! I'm Yang. Yang Xiao Long." The young man stepped forward and firmly grasped over her calloused knuckles.

"And this is my friend..." Yang paused, realization suddenly dawning upon her that her best friend, no matter how comfortable she was around new people, was a global celebrity, at least in the sports world. Would she mind the attention that would be given to her if she were to be noticed during the trip?

"This is...Pyrrha," Yang finished lamely, not knowing what else she could say without permission from the redhead. The addressed remained in the car, the open palm of her hand unmoving from her forehead.

The blonde thought that she saw the pupils of the cat-like amber eyes dilate in recognition. Yet, as if her mind had been playing tricks on her, they shrunk back to their normal sizes within seconds.

"The name's Jaune Arc," the young man acquainted himself with Yang, outwardly finding the lack of a last name not strange. He turned to his partner, but the mystery girl kept silent in a slightly reproachful manner. With a sigh, he introduced in her stead. "And this is Blake Belladonna."

"Nice to meet you guys." Yang beamed as she pointed at the car with a backwards thumb. "Shall we?"

The woman's feet were rooted onto the ground until Jaune finally laughed nervously and simply shoved the reluctant girl inside. Blake sat down at the farthest edge with a grunt, clutching her large backpack in her arms. Jaune threw his hiking gear in first, dropping it onto the floor panels before climbing into the car. He awkwardly shook hands with Pyrrha as well before panning his gaze around the vacuous car.

"This is a sweet ride." Yang heard the awed compliment as she stepped back behind the wheel as well.

"Yeah... Unfortunately, it's not mine." She smirked as she fastened her seat belt and finally stomped on the pedal to propel the vehicle forward. "I borrowed this wrangler from my uncle Qrow. He used to travel around in it all the time with his friends."

The girl simply bobbed her head in admission while the boy looked thoroughly impressed. The windows of the back opened upon her command, and the two new passengers peered outside, their hair flying around messily in the oncoming wind. Blake was watching the outside view, through the thick clouds of sand and dust the ride created as they trundled across the desert land.

"So what brings you guys out here in the vast valley of nothingness?" Yang, master of small talk, started as she goggled up at their images through the rearview mirror. "Are you some sort of adventure nuts?"

"I'm a photographer, actually." Jaune disclosed, flashing up his digital camera with pride. "It's kind of my job, traveling around the world and taking pictures of nature."

"That sounds like an exciting life," Pyrrha said genuinely, which made the boy glow even brighter.

"What about you, Blake?" The blonde casually wondered. Through the reflection of the glass surface, she saw that the passenger had taken out a mini notepad and a ballpoint pen. "What are you doing there?"

"Taking notes." A faint reply was heard as the girl busily jotted a flurry of sentences.

Yang jested playfully. "Are you getting quizzed on?"

"No." Disapproving golden eyes met her, informing the blonde that most of her jokes would be returned poorly from this particular audience. "I need these for later."

"Blake's a travel writer," Jaune clarified.

"Oh," Yang commented nervously. "That's cool."

Notwithstanding, the conversation was cut even shorter as the four of them jumped out of their seats by a few centimeters as the tires made contact with a particularly rocky road.

"Hold on." Yang grunted as she clenched tightly on the steering wheel. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

The jeep shook violently as they powered across a few rogue stones embedded onto the ground. Blake made rather anxious peeks towards her friend, who seemed to have significantly paled through the course of ten minutes. Yang didn't understand the gravity of these signs and continued to drive on roughly, until her foot unconsciously flew down to the brakes at the urgent shouting from behind: "Stop the car! Stop it!"

The truck screeched as the blonde and the redhead cringed, holding on for dear life as they jerked forward then came to a sudden halt.

"What the hell?" An irritated shout came from Yang as she swiveled around, turning her waist around to confront the owner of the clamor. However, the problematic two were already making their way out of the vehicle; Jaune keeping his hand smacked across his mouth and an agitated Blake racing after him. Pyrrha and Yang exchanged a bewildered glance before killing the engine and running outside.

Jaune had fallen onto the ground, a good distance away from the truck. His hands were still covering the bottom half of his face as he made a few retching sounds. Blake was barely an inch away from him, down on one knee, patting her companion soothingly.

The spectators approached carefully, crouching to their level to see what was going on. Yang observed that the man's skin had turned a pale green and droplets of cold sweat were dripping off his chin.

"Is he ill?" Pyrrha inquired carefully from the side.

Another hurling sound began and abruptly stopped as the boy leaned forward, his forehead almost touching the ground floor.

"No." Blake shook her head, continuing to calmly make large circles across the photographer's backside. "It's motion sickness."

"Ugh..." Jaune moaned, finally removing his hands as he outright collapsed onto the dirt. "I think I swallowed it..."

"I told you we shouldn't have gone in the car..." Blake muttered; his proneness to get sick on moving vehicles having been one of the two main reasons not to accept the blonde's proposal.

"Is he going to be fine?" Yang asked as she sat uncomfortably close to Blake. Pyrrha, meanwhile, rushed back to the jeep and was picking at its rear end, scavenging for an item that would be of help.

The writer nodded slightly. "He needs some air, that's all."

As the boy rested, a panting redhead appeared beside them once again, a thin rectangular box in one hand and cold water in the other.

"Here, I got something that might help," she offered as she handed out a single pill and a water bottle to the nauseous boy. "It's meant to prevent motion sickness."

"Whoa, thank god you're so prepared," Yang said in relief as a surprised Blake took the medication into her hands. The boy groaned as his friend forced him to sit up properly. Another minute or so passed as the boy gratefully took and swallowed the pill with a gulp of water.

"Thanks." He coughed as he choked on his last chug.

"It was nothing," Pyrrha grinned as she took a spot on the ground as well. The redhead and the blonde swung their restless gazes around the dry earth, this having been their first direct experience of the valley after they had left the station at the front gates of the park.

Altogether, the four enjoyed the period of rest, approximately fifteen minutes, waiting for the drugs to kick in before Yang suggested heading back on the road. Jaune agreed as a silly smile presented itself on his face again, his skin having returned to a healthy color of beige.

"So... Vomit Boy. Feeling better?" Yang pleasantly teased as they got back into the car. The engine roared back to life and the blonde had resolved to drive much more carefully from then on.

"Hey!" The photographer retorted haughtily. "You know, most people think that motion sickness isn't a big deal. But it's a pretty serious illness, I'll have you know."

"Whatever." Yang burst out in laughter. "Just aim the puke out the window if you ever feel the urge."

"That's disgusting," Pyrrha cringed before turning to the irked blond. "Let us know when you feel sick and we'll stop again. It's not a problem."

"Oh! Actually, I think I know something else that can help!" Yang shouted excitingly, as violet eyes darted towards them through the refection. "All you have to do is take your mind off the road. So sing along with me!"

The blonde heaved in and began to chant a very off beat song: "Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall!"

Pyrrha couldn't seem to decide whether or not to be entertained by her rambunctious friend or be annoyed by the fact that she had tried so hard to get that annoying melody out of her head, only for the blonde to stick it back inside in a matter of seconds.

Blake looked positively horrified at the prospect that the song would be going on for the entirety of the ride.

And Jaune? Jaune had been strangely convinced. Sooner or later, the two blondes were chorusing at the top of their lungs, a redhead finally chiming in after multiple catchy verses.

"...Eighty six bottles of beer on the wall, eighty six bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, eighty five bottles of beer on the wall!"

"Hey! I think it is working!" Jaune announced gleefully.

"...I sincerely hope you mean the drugs..." Blake's mumbles were left unheard through the clatter of noise.


	8. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 3)

It was closing around five o'clock in the afternoon. The sun, though fearsomely hot at its peak, lived out a short life in the valleys. Already, the ball of fire was setting across the horizon, painting the scores of rocks and surfaces of dirt with an orange haze. Bits of rogue clouds slowly faded in the distance, tinted with mixtures of warm yellow, splashed with hues of pink, red, purplish indigo.

Pyrrha had studied the map along the way and suspected that they were only about a mile away from the start of the summit trails. Deciding that soon the roads would become too dark and dangerous to safely travel on, the four unanimously voted on camping out in the desert for the night and venture into the mountains early next morning.

The journey so far had been more or less eventful. It would have taken the owners of the truck much less time to have gone on their own. With the addition of the duo travelers, however, they had to make plenty of stops along the way. Not that Yang was bothered by this, since the frequent rests ensured that her uncle's car remained gag free, and it also gave her more opportunities to converse with the monosyllabic travel writer. From a completely objective standpoint, the blonde wasn't making any sort of successful advances, as most of her loud comments or jokes were usually acknowledged poorly or altogether ignored. Nonetheless, Yang liked to believe she was taking small but meaningful steps until the girl would respond back in fully phrased sentences.

More so than anything else, Yang had found content in the fact that Pyrrha was enjoying herself with the company of strangers. While giving the blondes a couple of her irritated glances, Blake had engaged in pleasant conversations with Pyrrha, perhaps due to the fact that the redhead carried a very caring and civil ambiance. Meanwhile Jaune proved to be an incredibly easygoing person to befriend, sharing bits of interesting stories as the day prolonged on. Yang was as tactful at filling periods of silences as much as Jaune. The two, with their powers combined, made it almost believable that the members of the group have been previous acquaintances before coming across each other in the valley.

They huddled around in a loose circle, a jacket worn over their first layers to face the briskly dropping temperatures of the night. A small bonfire was crackling in the middle, courtesy of Blake who had scavenged the perimeter, picking up flammable pieces of wood and leaves, before returning to base and setting them ablaze with a lighter. Two medium sized tents stood behind them, one for each pair.

At the sight of the camp fire, an inspired Yang had taken out multiple items from the trunk, bringing out a large pot, boxes of instant macaroni and cheese, and a small cooler with a few cans of beer. Pyrrha laughed as she pointed out to the puzzled onlookers that the sole items the blonde had cared enough to take were large provisions of food to eat on the road. Perching up the pot on top of several large stones over the steady flame, Yang was left in charge of dinner. By the end of her avid preparation, the air was filled with the smell of cheap cheddar and slightly burnt flour. The hungry chef handed out bowls of cheesy muck and plastic serving utensils; each individual passed down the portioned dish to the other around in a circle.

"Okay, everybody understands the rules, right?" Yang confirmed one more time as she chewed on a mouthful of pasta. "You fold down a finger if you have done what the player says. First one to lose all fingers has to chug a can of beer."

"I think drinking alcohol is frowned upon in public places like national parks?" One heavy brow slanted in strong disapproval as Blake silently chewed on a particularly stale piece.

"Frowned upon but not prohibited?" The blonde rebutted playfully and without further ado looked around the set. "So who wants to go first?"

"Oh! I'll go!" Jaune volunteered keenly. Pyrrha and Yang, momentarily placing their unfinished dishes on their laps held up ten fingers. The photographer silently nudged Blake with his elbow until the girl reluctantly mirrored the other players' motions. Satisfied, he then proceeded to vocalize his thoughts. "...Never have I ever...cheated on a test or an exam."

Yang folded her left thumb with an annoyed scoff. The redhead grinned, remembering the time her friend had been busted for trying to copy off somebody's paper during a world history quiz, then tried to omit her detention by flirting with the substitute teacher. It had ended horribly wrong, although the blonde still insists that she would have succeeded if the high school director hadn't walk in on them.

"Let's go clockwise," Pyrrha proposed as she looked across the fire to the writer who seemed to be spacing out. "Blake?"

"Huh?" The girl unfroze, her long black hair now let down loosely over her shoulders. "Sorry, what were we doing?"

She considered Jaune for help, who was having difficulty swallowing a hot bite of pasta, his hands blowing puffs of cool air onto his tongue as Pyrrha passed him a bottle of water. Blake gave a wary gaze to the other blonde sitting next to her.

"Never have I ever." Yang smiled encouragingly. "Jaune started us off and now it's your turn."

"Right..." Blake shifted around in the soft sand. Taking a moment, she finally tried, "Never have I ever broken any bones."

Again, the blonde folded down her index, remembering a day in her childhood where she had broken her wrist while trying to teach Ruby how to ride a bike; despite all odds, it had been the teacher who ended up injured in the end. And the pupil, traumatized, vowed to never go near a bike ever again.

However, for this turn, she hadn't been alone. Jaune joined her while throwing a betrayed look at his partner. "Hey! No killing your own team over here."

"When did you break a bone?" Blake inquired, sounding sincerely flummoxed.

"Well, it was before we met but there was a guy in my class who was bullying me. Nora was going to avenge me by breaking the guy's legs-"

A loud sound erupted from beside Blake as Yang spewed out a mouthful of water at the man's words. Pyrrha seemed equally petrified.

"-but then somehow she ended up getting me instead by accident," Jaune finished calmly; the teller and his listener unperturbed by the story as they knew how extraordinary their friend could get.

"...So..." Yang decided to change the subject, not wanting to venture further on the topic of drastic methods used against bullies. "I guess it's my turn then."

The other three bobbed their heads in unison as the blonde ruminated loudly. "All right, let's kick things up a notch. Honestly, the ideas you guys are coming up with are _way_ too tame for this game."

Pyrrha emitted a nervous laughter as Yang alas concluded her thoughts. "Never have I ever had an inappropriate dream about a friend!"

Blue, green, and yellow eyes widened at the statement. Pyrrha had become mildly pink, but aware that she could not lie in front of Yang – the one who has seen all and heard all – folded down her right thumb. Jaune, who had hidden his initially girly squeal with a butch manly cough, tried to act nonchalant as he pulled another one down. And to Yang's biggest surprise, Blake had silently put down her first finger as well.

"Aw, you guys." Yang snickered. "I guess nobody's innocent here."

"Who did you dream sleep with?" The blonde thought she heard Jaune whisper into Blake's ear. Yang leaned in closer to barely catch the words "mistake" and "Sun" mumble out of Blake's gritted teeth.

"I suppose it's my turn now." Pyrrha smiled, a rather devilish expression playing on her lips. Suddenly, Yang felt her throat run dry.

"Never have I ever been caught fooling around by a family member." There it was: the redhead's trademark sinister smirk that visited only on special occasions. It had arrived with extensive knowledge on the anecdote told by Ruby, who had walked in on her sister at the wrong time, only to later wish that she could clean her eyeballs out with corrosive sanitizers.

"Damn you, Nikos!"

The air froze still. Yang had not realized what she had shouted as she pointed an accusing finger at her best friend. The redhead's mouth dropped open slightly, and only then did the blonde understand what she had slipped.

"...Nikos...? Where do I know that name from?" Jaune said quizzically to Blake, both of whom had not folded another finger. Blake, instead of answering, tilted her head slightly to stare at Pyrrha who was now glaring at a very guilty looking Yang.

"Oops." The blonde tittered nervously then began to wolf down the rest of her dinner, shouting: "My goodness! The food's getting cold!"

"Um...Actually..." Pyrrha laughed half-heartedly as uncomfortable jade eyes darted back and forth. "My full name is Pyrrha Nikos..."

Blake fiddled around her food with a fork, nodding quietly. "So you _are_ that famous tennis player."

"Wait... You knew?" Bewildered violet circles whipped towards the girl with black hair.

Meanwhile Jaune bonked himself hard on the head in the background. "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you until now!"

"It's weird not to know." The travel writer shrugged. "And Jaune is usually clueless about anything regarding sports."

"Hey!" The man argued, straightening his back as he attempted to appear more confident. "Just because I grew up with seven sisters doesn't mean I don't know my sports!"

"Jaune, you're not even subscribed to any sports channels."

"This doesn't make things weird...does it?" Pyrrha interrupted, asking then waiting restlessly on a rogue log. Her sentiments couldn't be easily understood by any of the souls sitting around the fire. No matter how close Yang was to her, the blonde wouldn't be able to comprehend how it felt to be marveled at, like a statue. To be praised by strangers and placed on a pedestal, what sort of crushing burden her talents brought along with fame. It had made it almost impossible for her to tread on any other paths but her career; new acquaintances sorted themselves into fans, greedy agents, or representatives at advertisement companies, making it impossible for her to make any meaningful relationships.

She didn't know what to hope for as the writer and the photographer exchanged confused looks before staring back at the distinguished athlete.

"Why would it?" Jaune blurted out and there was no doubt he was telling the truth.

"Oh! That makes this round easy!" He beamed afterwards. "Never have I ever been on television!"

It took a moment for the player to recover. When she did, she chuckled lightly.

"That's fair." Pyrrha contended, a deep sense of relief and appreciation washing over her, not caring that she was now two down.

"Actually...I've been in a commercial before." The blonde confessed as she folded yet another finger.

"Are you a celebrity too?" Azure irises widened at the statement.

"No, no!" A snort of laughter was heard before Yang explained in depth. "It was a small gig for a clothing brand. My friend thought I would be right for the part so I auditioned. I didn't think I would actually get it."

"Well, you are attractive," Blake stated bluntly as she picked up a spoon of cheese. Only at the fourth chew did she discern that her phrase had caused the remaining players to stare at her in disbelief.

"Oh?" A greatly coquettish grin materialized on the blonde's face. "Attractive, am I?"

"I...I..." For the first time since they had joined groups, Blake became speechless. Not understanding where the little outburst had originated from, her calm composure slowly cracked under the heated gaze of a coy blonde. Speedily, the young woman changed the subject, taking advantage of the fact that it was her turn. "Never have I ever gotten kicked out of a bar."

"You guys are seriously starting to gang up on me." Yang grunted as her whole left hand presently had no fingers left to fold.

Pyrrha giggled as she gave the blonde a small pitiless pat on the shoulder. "It's not our fault you've pulled a lot of crazy stunts."

Without a doubt, the loser of the first round had been Yang. The next few questions had been unimaginative; at the end of which Yang chugged down a beer at an alarming pace. After stomping on the empty aluminum can into a flat oval, the blonde insisted that they continued the game.

After scraping up the last bits of food left in the pot and their bowls, the group began the next rotation, biting on beef jerky for dessert.

The second round established many new facts about each other, mostly mundane details: Yang had a brown corgi named Zwei, Pyrrha had never been in a car accident, Blake had never been fired from a job, and Jaune was indeed a natural blond.

Of course there had been disclosures of unnecessary information as well, information that could have been potentially less embarrassing to have.

"Never have I ever..." Blake sighed, having a harder time coming up with ideas. "...set myself on fire."

"Aw come on!"

For example, at the age of seventeen, Yang had set herself on fire while trying to cook breakfast on the stove. Miraculously there hadn't been any major burns as Ruby had hosed down her older sister with a water gun.

"I got one! Never have I ever been caught reading something naughty." At the blonde's assertion, a certain photographer's penetrating stare probed the travel writer.

The others were told that Blake had been caught hiding an erotic novel amidst her hardcover collections. Although she tried to pass it off as someone else's, it hadn't been enough to convince Jaune. This prompted Blake to reveal a humiliating story where the photographer had tried to ask out a girl he met by singing an original song, resulting in a door being slammed to his face.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," he claimed.

"Birds were attempting suicide outside," stated the witness.

Nevertheless, the defeated player still remained to be Yang, a popular target to the most random questions sought out by the participants. By the end of her second can, the blonde was enthusiastic for another turn. However, it was decided that the third round would have to wait for tomorrow as the desert grounds were growing increasingly pitch black and cold. But most importantly, the other contestants began to find no point in the "punishment" as Yang seemed to immensely enjoy her drink.

The flame was put out and garbage disposed of into trash bags inside the car. Brushing their teeth over a minimal amount of water, the four prepared to sleep. Jaune burrowed himself in extra layers as Pyrrha said goodnight before disappearing into a yellow tent.

"Good night then!" Yang waved happily over at the neighboring duo as she copied her friend's actions. "See you guys in the morning!"

"Nighty night!"

"Good night."

* * *

 _The rumbling of large stones echoed from above. Ominous and foreboding._

 _She had been distracted. The moment, so cursory...yet an ample amount of time for him to slip away. Her hand shot out, arm outstretched to its maximum capacity, straining all of its fibers, prepared to lose senses over it so long as it reached him. Reached him in time. This time. Please._

 _Before she knew it, she was floating. Airborne and terrified as she watched with dilated amber eyes, the man falling beyond her grasp. She sees him crash. Hypersensitive ears awaken through fear and terror; they catch every ragged breath, every bone cracking like twigs, and every flicker of blood splashing across the rocks._

 _Red, all she could see was red. The sight of his mangled body staining her vision forever with such a vivid crimson hue; his irises clearly seen through unclosed eyelids, staring up at her, dull and lifeless, but red, strikingly red._

 _Building tears thickened and darkened, raining down her cheeks with the pungent smell of iron and salt. Shaking, uncontrollable hands traced the sides of her face and the gore slathered over her knuckles, slithering between her fingers, etching in deeper and deeper into her nails._

 _And then she felt it._

 _She felt what he would have felt._

 _The strenuous empathy spawning nothing but death throes, enabling her to experience the mind-numbing effects of physical torment._

 _The throat burning as oxygen ceased to exist._

 _The cracked head. Throbs and aches present along all of its vicinity, intensifying rapidly as if a metal bat was being swung, through the back of the skull and directly at the brain._

 _An overwhelming surge of heaviness, forbidding four limbs of any movement; not even a twitch of a single finger. The body feels hot, a burning sensation of wild fire inside, scorching the internal organs with agony that can't be achieve through any means of torture. Words escape pathetically, replaced only with deranged sounds of pain. Inhuman cries of such anguish. The sickening discomfort of clothes dampening, soaking up the pool of blood unrolling underneath._

 _She begged through_ _mutilated screams, for time to stop, for the universe to cease to exist. Crying, not for her pain, but pleading, for his to disappear. This had been his suffering, his reality, yet a nightmare for her to share._

 _A merciless white light seized at her, blurring the scene before her, deadening the pain but worsening the weight of the stone inside her stomach._

 _She couldn't leave him here. Not again. Not as this...this alone and broken marionette._

 _Her mind was fading._

 _It was too late._

 _She had failed again._

 _Amber met red. An unspoken promise, never reciprocated._

 _I'll be back._

 _Tomorrow._

 _I'll be back, tomorrow._

 _..._

"Adam!" The name was shouted like a reflex as the young woman jolted up from the ground, cold sweat running down her neck.

"Blake...?" A worried voice called out to her from the darkness. The tenderness of it startled her, soothing her in ways she knew she shouldn't be. Not anymore.

"What's wrong?" The man asked as he approached her, shifting closer to her from his slouched position, the same way he had always sat, sitting on the floor with folded knees.

This had never happened before. It always ended. Her nightmare always finished with the same tortuous beams of light and a final glimpse...a glimpse of the body. _His_ body.

She was in the tent. Jaune was snoring audibly beside her. And she was back, so close to the canyons that haunt her. The heart pounded furiously as her senses kicked in, alerting her that she was awake. This was real.

"It was just a nightmare..." Adam whispered. Caring maroon eyes stared into her as a gentle hand lifted to caress her cheek. But she couldn't feel it. The touch wasn't there.

"No..." she croaked. "No, it wasn't."

Dodging his hurt look, she scrambled up to her feet, sweeping the sleeping bag away and avoiding the man in the shadows. She was beginning to lose her mind. Air. She needed air.

Without another thought, she burst out of the tent. Panting and sweating, feeling the chilly sand of twilight underneath her toes, she stepped out onto the desert grounds.

She craved to be alone.

The least she expected was to have a pair of lilac eyes ogling out at her under the pale moon.

* * *

Yang had woken up at early twilight. Energy flowed within her, even at the start of a cold morning. Feeling stuffy inside the tent, the blonde put on an over-sized jacket, being careful not to prod her sleeping red-haired friend awake, and headed outside. The atmosphere was still chilly, though not as frigid as it had been over night. The sun hadn't risen yet, though the horizon had brightened to a deep blue from an endless coal-black.

Sitting down comfortably on the hood of the car, Yang relaxed, gazing upwards at the magnificent sight brought to her by Mother Nature. The moment was cut short, however, as she heard a sharp cry of a man's name. Her eyes darted towards the tent to her far right; the covering swished open and it was indubitably a sullen travel writer emerging from inside it.

The girl, at first, hadn't noticed Yang was there. She stood there, panting heavily and unmoving, then sensing another presence, Blake's attention snapped towards the blonde's direction. Amber eyes enlarged so widely, showing more emotion in the girl than Yang had ever seen over the course of a whole day.

"Sorry..." Blake murmured, pivoting back towards the tent. "I didn't realize you were there..."

"No!" Yang shouted loudly and observed the girl's hand freeze over the flap. Respectful to the ones still in slumber, she added in a more hushed manner. "It's fine. Don't let me drive you away."

The blonde waited, with more patience than usual, until the girl turned around slowly, her jet-black hair wavering in the cool breeze.

"Come on." Yang tapped on the vacant spot next to her. "Sit with me."

And to the blonde's utmost surprise, Blake obliged. Shifting leftwards as the girl took a seat beside her, Yang spied through the corner of her eye. The young woman was pale, even paler than usual. Droplets of sweat could be seen behind her jagged bangs. Dark rings under her eyes signaled stress and strain. And her normally mute demeanor was broken by distinct uneven breaths.

"Are you okay?" But Blake didn't answer. Instead she began to shiver. The bleak morning dried the perspiration on her forehead, possibly dropping her body temperature by several degrees. Wearing a thin layered outer garment, it was impossible to keep warm. Yang additionally noticed that the girl was completely barefoot.

"Here," the blonde said as she bravely shed her own jacket and draped it over the girl's shoulders.

Blake gripped the edges of the warmed fabric and gawked at Yang. "Aren't you cold?"

"Nah." she shrugged it off, facing the girl and giving her a small wink. "I stay pretty hot all year round."

Long lashes swept up and blinked at her blankly.

"...Okay...yes..." Yang laughed nervously. "Yes, I am a bit cold..."

Rolling her eyes slightly, the girl tried to pass the coat back. The blonde took it, but instead of wearing it herself, she draped it over both of their shoulders like a blanket.

A puzzled Blake stared at her, to which Yang simply grinned. "This way we're both warm."

Blake seemed to begrudgingly agree, saying nothing else as she chose to stare out again at the sandy floor. Worried that her presence was only making the reserved girl more uncomfortable, the blonde finally asked, "Should I leave you alone?"

"...What do you mean?"

"I mean...it doesn't seem like you really enjoy my company that much...so...?" Words struggled out of her with retrospective lens on their previous interactions. Yang sulked, imagining the following scenarios where Blake would impassively confirm to the assumption and politely demand for her to go somewhere else. For such reasons, the subsequent words from the girl threw the blonde in a mild daze.

"I'm sorry."

The blonde shook her head and stared open-mouthed at Blake, making sure she had heard correctly. "You... You're sorry?"

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way," Blake explained quietly. "I don't dislike you. I'm just not very good at meeting new people."

"That's not true!" Her firm response was met with a rather skeptical expression. "All right...so you are a lot less...talkative than your friend. But I still think you're a pretty great person to be friends with!"

"...You don't even know me."

"I know enough." The blonde smiled reassuringly in reply to the bitter remark. An almost unnoticeable grin played on the other girl's lips. Slightly embarrassed by what she had said, Yang faked a cough and quickly lied down on the jeep, hiding her pink face behind Blake's back.

Moments of silence passed. Yang hummed as she viewed the astronomical marvel painted over them. "...I never knew stars could be seen for so long."

"It's lovely..." Blake whispered in agreement, hair falling over her back as her head titled upwards at the sky.

"My sister and I used to always look up at the night sky when we were little," the blonde told, the blanket of stars reminding her of a certain pleasant memory. "She really loved to see the moon. Still does. I guess some things never change... It's funny though. She always said that there's something...magical about the moon."

"There is something haunting in the light of the moon. It has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery."

Yang blinked, her visage appearing thoroughly impressed at the girl who remained still beside her. "Wow... I guess that's the reason you're a writer and I'm not."

"...Conrad."

"Huh?" She hadn't quite caught the words.

"Joseph Conrad." Blake clarified, craning her neck slightly, amused amber eyes glancing down at her. "It's a quote from my favorite author."

"Oh."

The two surveyed each other, still as statues.

Eventually, Blake began to chuckle, faint and short, but it was still the closest Yang had gotten to see her laugh. The way her lips curved upwards as the end of her brows dipped slightly, an appropriate twinkle reflected in her golden orbs. She was breathtaking, a goddess of twilight in her eyes. This individual before her truly was unlike any girl she had spoken to before.

"So..." Blake smirked. "You never mentioned what you do for a living?"

"Well..." It took the blonde much effort to not let her voice fall an octave. Trying to maintain a cheery tone, Yang answered, "I don't really have a single job. I'm a bit of a drifter actually... Moving around, taking odd jobs here and there."

Her attempts didn't get too far under a discerning gaze that turned towards her. "You don't sound too happy about that."

"I am happy." The sentence flew out without a second thought. Yang staggered at her own outburst and stared vacantly over at the landscape of distant valleys. "It's just... I never found any reason to settle down with something. I can't seem to find anything that interests me long enough to stay, you know?"

Blake frowned. "Do you think that's wrong?"

Yang's brows knitted in confusion. "Isn't it?"

"...Maybe," said Blake calmly. "But I'd like to think that we all have a purpose somewhere. And that one day or another...it will find us."

There was a hint of yearning that Yang perceived, prompting her to ponder out loud to the girl. "You haven't found yours yet?"

Blake respired deeply and soundlessly. "...I'm not so sure..."

The enigmatic answer left a long pause in between them. Drinking in the silence, Yang didn't talk for the passing minutes, allowing Blake to sort out her muddled thoughts.

"Thank you, Yang." The blonde's mind shut down in realization that this had been the first time Blake properly addressed her. She liked hearing the way the girl said her name. It was different. "This...helped."

Standing up from the truck, Blake formed a fraction of a smile before returning back to her tent, the closing sound of the cover allowing the blonde to begin breathing again.

"I'm in trouble..." Yang muttered to herself, leaning back onto the car, closing her eyes and expecting to see darkness, but instead being met with the image of a soft smile: rare and unprecedentedly beautiful.


	9. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 4)

"With more than two hundred people joining our tracks annually, Remnant Valley has proven to be a qualified trip for guests that have courage, perseverance, and a bit of luck! My commitment here as the head staff is to make sure all hikers, travelers, and tourists enjoy their stay and return back safely to this base! Do you have any questions for me?"

The man at the counter had spoken so fast that Blake and Yang could only blink in response, staring up at the crazed employee wearing messy green hair and opaque round glasses.

Nonplussed, the worker continued to spew words out like bullets. "So where will all of you be venturing off to? Hiking through the trails of Mountain Glenn? Into the valleys of Mistral? Towards cliffs of Vacuo? Or perhaps heading straight into the dangerous Vale Canyon?"

"Uh...the last one?" Yang answered in an unsure manner.

"Ah yes! The Vale Canyon!" He exclaimed before starting another oxygen lacking rant. "The area of land stretches back to thousands of years when the first evidence of human presence was found! Dating back approximately twelve thousand years ago, rare artifacts of its inhabitants have been found within its intricate layers of rocks! It is simply outstanding how much information it can provide us of mankind's history! Tell me, are any of you eager scientists hoping to find evidences of cultures of our prehistoric people, analyzing inscriptions, monuments, fossil relics, and-"

"No! No!" Yang cut the man off hurriedly, afraid that if they had to endure more of the rapid speech, at least one of them was bound to blow off a head. "We're just regular hikers."

"I see..." The spark in his hyperactive motions seemed to dull slightly after this, but he still conversed to them in a thoroughly happy tone. "Well then, to take that particular path you would have to track through Mountain Glenn, a solid one day journey, until you arrive at the foot of the canyons. The Vale Canyon offers several choices of trails, varying in length and difficulty. Though whichever one you may choose to take, all of them will last only several hours at most. Please be informed beforehand that the paths are difficult and dangerous, not recommended at all for any novice hikers or passing visitors."

"Right..." Blake said quietly before walking away from the counter.

Yang watched the writer leave as she wondered what was so off about the girl this morning. With that thought constantly at the back of her mind, she turned back to the man. "I parked my truck outside. Would it be safe there overnight?"

"Of course! I will make sure that it remains in the exact same spot where you have parked it."

"Thank you." The blonde was about to turn around but added on another quick important question. "Oh! And do you get any reception around here?"

"We have a clear connection around this area but starting from the mountain trails it will be almost impossible to gain any cellular access so I advise that you finish making your calls here."

"That's great! Thanks again." Yang beamed at the answer, then waved the man a short goodbye. She reconvened with the group waiting outside next to the car. Pyrrha had prepared two standard backpacks for their hike, equipped with extra clothing, footwear, rain gear, tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and personal items. Lugging them out of the back trunk, she set them down onto the graveled surfaces of the base camp.

"Are we ready to head out?" The redhead inquired as she checked the time on her digital watch. "It's almost seven o'clock. If we start heading through the mountains now, we'll be able to make it to the canyon by tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, hold on a second though. I have to make a call to Ruby." The blonde notified the rest of the party as she fished around her bag's lower compartment to find her phone. Closing up the zipper as she pulled it out, she pressed the first number on speed dial and waited for only a single dial to ring before an energetic voice answered.

"Yang!" The name was shouted so loudly from the other side that the photographer and writer could almost believe that the recipient of the call was in their immediate surroundings. "We've been waiting forever for you to call! What took you so long? Did you get lost? How is it over there?"

"Actually..." Yang held up a hand, covering the screen of her phone and muffling the ongoing chatter of excitement as she faced the waiting travelers. "This may take a while. Why don't you guys go have a look around? I think there was a small gift shop corner."

"There's a gift shop?" Needing no other methods of persuasion, the blond boy raced inside, dragging a protesting Blake by the wrist. Pyrrha stayed by her friend's side, wishing to see how the conversation between the two sisters would go.

"Sorry about that..." She let out a good-natured laugh at her sibling's concerns. "We didn't get lost! There were a lot of stops made along the way. But we're at the base now! And we're going to officially start the hike soon."

"Why am I not surprised..." Yang's bright ears caught the snide comment being muttered in the background.

The blonde frowned, brows furrowing as she recognized the sarcasm. "Weiss, is that you?"

"Hello, Yang. And Pyrrha, who's probably listening in," the girl answered in a breezy tone. "It's good to know both of you are still alive. As a matter of fact, _we_ have some good news to tell you as well."

"Oh! Can I tell her?" Ruby pleaded through the line. "Please? Please? Please?"

There was a relenting sigh and then a slackened reply. "Go ahead."

"Weiss and I are dating!"

"What?" Pyrrha and Yang synchronized in joy as the blonde concocted an attitude of pure ignorance. "This... This is huge! I can't believe it! You two? You and Weiss? The two of you? Really?"

"Weiss told me you guys already knew."

"Well no shit, Ruby." The older sister dropped the act in an instant, throwing up her free hand in exasperation as the long awaited moment had finally arrived. "She was practically licking you with her eyes all the time."

"Yang Xiao Long!" An indignant voice screeched out into her eardrums.

Flinching, the addressed caller quickly defended her remark. "I'm kidding! It was just an expression!"

"A grossly exaggerated one," an abashed Weiss mumbled in an undertone.

"Congratulations to the both of you," Pyrrha intervened as she expressed her genuine sentiments.

"Thank you, Pyrrha." Weiss huffed in a much more civil manner than her partner who simply squealed several more times in barely controllable glee.

"Wait a minute..." There was a slight pause as Yang's pupils widened in stunned realization. "It's not even seven in the morning...on a Monday...and Ruby shouldn't be awake yet..."

Lilac orbs narrowed in suspicion as she vocalized her intuitions. "How come Weiss is beside you?"

The two figures on the other line must have frozen as well as no sound leaked through.

"...To be fair...you're the one who told me to make sure she gets to her morning classes," the business student finally stated.

"Schnee!"

"Love you so much, sis! Talk to you later! Bye!"

And with that, the new lovey-dovey couple promptly ended the call. A shocked Yang stood rooted to the ground as her scarlet-haired companion let out a well-deserved laugh.

"She... Weiss... They..." The blonde shook her head violently, erasing the horrible mental image in her head. "Okay... I'm going to only focus on the fact that my baby sister got together with one of my closest friends and not any of the...the other parts."

This only made Pyrrha laugh even harder. A peeved blonde forcefully pushed the giggling redhead through the doors into the log cabin. Walking inside, they quickly found Jaune marveling over small wooden carvings of various animals as Blake simply brooded beside him.

"Would Nora be expecting souvenirs again?" The photographer asked the girl to his right. "The last time I went on a trip and didn't get her something back she didn't talk to me for the whole day."

"...I think she has enough bear figurines to last her a lifetime." Blake made the final judgment, removing the tiny statue out of the man's hands and back onto the shelf.

"You guys going to buy something?" Yang asked the duo from behind, subtly placing her hands on top of their shoulders.

"No." Another single word response was elicited from the travel writer as she shuffled away from the blonde. Yang deflated in mild disappointment; she had hoped that the giddy feeling that was felt merely a few hours ago would last until the end of the trip. Yet the real adventure had barely begun and the reserved girl was already acting as if their intimate talk never happened.

Nevertheless, Yang couldn't afford to stay downtrodden for long. Wasting not another minute, the group had packed their belongings and supplies, treading onto the rocky trails of Mountain Glenn, a stone mountain with extensive formations of elevated land. Their noses were ushered in with the smell of dry leaves mixed with the smell of heated grit and the acrid scent of smoldering rocks. They spotted populations of trees and shrubs, more green than they had seen in the valley so far.

Yang walked slowly, having learned from painful experience that she needed to portion her stamina wisely in order to finish a two-day hike. Along the arid trails, she moved forward as her shadow followed, glimpsing around at her comrades every so often.

The world-class tennis player was needless to say faultless in her strides. The superfluous levels of training Pyrrha drove herself through – various drills and volleys – made her perfectly fit for the present environment: craggy mounds leading upwards, deeper into the center of the mountain. The two friends conversed freely as they went, lively discussing how on earth Weiss would have asked out Ruby. Sharing imaginations of the younger's reaction to the confession was entertaining to the same degree.

Blake was usually a few feet behind them. Her footsteps light and quick, like a cat prowling in its natural habitat. Yang was inclined to think that the girl's pace would be much faster if she had been alone, for Blake seemed to admittedly slow down each time Jaune appeared dreadfully tired.

It seemed the only instances Jaune portrayed sudden surges of power were when he was momentarily distracted by a scene to capture with his lens. Perhaps an excessive amount of concentration during those times, Yang noted, as he had currently walked a bit off trail, too busy chasing down a brown bird with his nose stuck to his camera. Blake had to literally grab him by his neck collar before he fell off a moderate cliff, resulting in the young man to trip over onto the poor girl while still managing to click the shutter button as the winged creature took flight.

The athlete and the blonde walked back a few steps, laughing at the sight of the boy sprawled across the figure of a very annoyed travel writer.

"I told you to watch where you're going," Blake growled as she shoved him off her stomach with a rough push.

"At least I got the picture." He grinned apologetically as he showed off the camera screen to the girl, who peered down at it with an irritated expression despite the striking quality of the shot he had taken. With a grunt she stood up, dusting herself clear of dirt. Smiling sympathetically, Pyrrha helped Jaune up to his feet as well.

"How did you two ever become friends?" Yang mused, finding the camaraderie between the pair absolutely remarkable.

"It's a long story," the photographer stated while hitching his hiking gear on properly as the four resumed the walk.

"Not really," said Blake flatly. "He fell out of a tree and nearly killed me. But somehow we managed to find a middle ground."

"And _that_ is why I never let you tell the short version," the miffed boy muttered.

"We've got time." Yang prodded them eagerly, watching as the two in question exchanged a short glance. Blake shrugged: her non-verbal way of consenting to retell the tale.

"Well... We became friends during our freshmen year of college," Jaune began, as their silhouettes moved east along a jagged path. "Blake was an English literature major and I was studying photography, so there weren't a lot of chances for us to meet...but we did end up taking this one class together. I think it was some sort of interdisciplinary course, studying different forms of media and information through the ages such as-"

"Could you get to the tree part faster?" A bored voice rudely interrupted. As the road narrowed, Yang hastened forward, naturally positioning herself near Blake as the scattered bushes along the track allowed for only two individuals to squeeze through at a time.

"What's the point of wanting to hear the entire story if you want me to skip around the important parts?" The boy retorted tartly, sending an irked look towards the backside of a restive blonde.

"Sorry." Yang rolled her eyes, which went unseen from the photographer's angle of view. "Please, go ahead."

"So the two of you met in class?" Pyrrha questioned from his side.

He faltered at these words. "...Not exactly... I was working on an assignment for a separate digital art class, assembling a mini portfolio of animals living in urban environments. There weren't a lot to find around campus though...until I found this stray black cat...up on a tree."

The blonde twinkled in early enjoyment as the ending had already been spoiled by the dark girl to her left.

"I managed to climb up the tree and take the photo...but I couldn't find my way down." Jaune let out a tepid laugh. "Eventually the branch I was crawling on snapped and I fell right over...onto Blake."

"That must have been funny." Yang nudged Blake lightly across the shoulder, as Pyrrha shook with mirth from behind them.

"Hilarious," the crash victim said in a sardonic fashion.

"It was a miracle I didn't break any bones. Just some bruises...but that goes for the both of us." Jaune grinned sheepishly. "After that, it was pretty hard not to recognize each other in class. We became friends ever since."

"Really?" The blonde threw both individuals a look of disbelief. "That fast?"

"I'm omitting the long period in between where all she gave me was a couple of her best evil glares," added Jaune in a matter of fact way. When the other three surveyed her teasingly, Blake simply shrugged, neither admitting nor denying the implication. Silently, she trudged on by herself, as if it wasn't a matter worth settling.

After several hours of hiking, they decided to take a longer break at a small clearing of boulders, provided with shade from several branched out trees. Yang had taken out a deck of cards to deal. As Pyrrha and Jaune eagerly joined in, Blake sat a block away from the player's circle, leaning at the base of a trunk with an open book down on her lap.

From Yang's standpoint, starting from today morning the already reticent writer was even more unresponsive than usual. Granted, the blonde didn't know the girl well enough to make any presumptions. But after their initial meeting at twilight, her instincts told her that the issue went beyond the girl's private personality.

There was an odd feeling inside the pit of the blonde's stomach; she didn't know much about why she was feeling that way, but she had a hunch. And Yang's thoughts were confirmed when she snuck up behind Blake as the girl was lost in her thoughts underneath a tree. There was a hardcover book in her hands: It wasn't a novel.

It was a thick notebook. Empty lines ran across the pages evenly. This one was different, however. There weren't any clippings of notes recording the journey across the mountains. Instead, there was an illustration.

At the top right-hand corner was a rough sketch of a person. The drawing of the face had been partial, capturing the side by a quarter of an inch as the figure appeared to be slowly turning around. However, outlines of spiky hair, a sharp jawline, and broad shoulders made it irrefutable that it was a picture of a man.

Stepping away from Blake's personal space, the blonde spoke softly, hoping not to startle the girl. "What you doing there, Blake?"

The book snapped shut, faster than Ruby closing the lid of a cookie jar before her gluttonous sister could reach inside it. Blake wheeled around, the same unruffled expression marked on her face despite the very suspicious line of action she had taken. "Nothing."

"Um...all right." Yang grinned weakly, shrugging off the feeling of another heavy brick dropping inside her. "I just wanted to let you know that we're heading out again."

"Okay," said Blake coolly as she packed up her load briskly. Yang watched as the girl ran off, being the first one to recommence the trail. Glancing to her side, her violet gaze landed upon Jaune who was quietly wiping the lens of his camera.

Deciding to venture into unknown territories, the blonde grabbed her red-haired friend and quickly whispered into her ear. "I need to talk to Jaune for a minute. Could you keep Blake distracted?"

"What?" Pyrrha, who had been ready to set off, raised her eyebrows at her companion's mysterious request.

"I'll tell you later," Yang said, putting in as much pleading as she could. "It's nothing fishy, I promise."

Perhaps to others, nothing about those sentences would be deemed as something less than dubious. However, Pyrrha – understanding as she was – chose not to ask any questions until afterwards. Nodding, the athlete sent a helpful smile to the blonde before hurrying off, closing the distance between her and the travel writer.

"Hey! Wait for-" Jaune had begun to shout when a hand shot out from beside him, slapping across his mouth and cloaking his alarmed cries.

"We're coming! Don't worry about us!" Yang yelled out convincingly. After a pause, and indistinct mumbles coming from Pyrrha, the sound of shifting bushes reached her ears, letting the blonde know that Blake had bought it.

"All right, let's get this over with," uttered Yang as she pulled the boy up from the ground, dragging him closely by the arm.

"What was that for?" He demanded, massaging the sides of his mouth while giving the blonde a baffled expression.

"I need to ask you something." Yang grinned playfully, though her eyes seemed serious enough to be quite frightening.

"Uh...okay then?" An unsure reply was given by Jaune, the puzzled expression still not leaving his visage. He tried to quicken his pace, but the blonde strengthened the grip she had over him.

"Slow down! Do you want them to hear us?" Yang hissed.

"I don't know!" A hushed Jaune snapped back, wondering to himself why he was copying the blonde's stealthy conduct. "Why? What are we talking about?"

"Jaune..." Yang heaved in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "...You're a really close friend to Blake...right?"

"Yes...?" This was the right answer in his mind. It was simply the uncomfortably interrogative atmosphere the blonde – who he had befriended for only two days – was giving him that made him doubt whether or not it was the answer she had been hoping for.

"How close are you two?"

"...A lot?"

"How much is a lot?"

"I don't know!" Jaune gulped, squirming under her intense stares. "I don't work well under pressure!"

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you're kind of crushing my arm."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Giving out an apology mixed with embarrassment, she promptly loosened the death grip. "I tend to do that. I never know how hard I'm holding on to people."

"Duly noted."

Emitting another big sigh, Yang felt the bubble of thin patience burst from within as she blurted out: "Are you sure you aren't dating Blake?"

He blinked exactly thrice before roaring into a fit of laughter. Jaune had to literally stop in his tracks, hanging onto a nearby tree stem, guffawing so hard that vibrations travelled up to the top leaves.

"Jaune?" Blake's voice called out from ahead, confused concern evidently being carried with it.

"Everything's fine!" called out the blonde nervously. "I...uh...I tripped!"

Not understanding how her brain decided this could be a liable excuse, Yang froze, waiting for the sound of approaching hikers. Fortunately, she saw no pair of amber eyes glaring back at her through the shrubs.

"Geez," Jaune wheezed, his hand over his chest, patting himself in order to calm down. "I almost died there. Sure! I'm dating Blake! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Hold on, let me go ahead and check because I don't think she knew either."

Tilting his head upwards, he saw that the blonde was not at all amused. "Oh...no, wait... You're being serious."

This time, giving out a much considerate laughter, he said avidly. "No! No! We're friends! Just friends! We've never even gone out on a date, I swear!"

By the bothered features on the girl's countenance, his brows knitted together. "Why do you even ask? Do you have a...thing for Blake?"

"No! Of course not!" An irregular, high-pitched yelp of denial escaped from her. "It's... I thought... I thought she was dating...someone..."

Yang frowned, falling silent as they walked along the trail. Thinking back, the man in the sketches didn't seem like Jaune. The hair had been longer and looked slightly swept at the sides. And the name the girl had shouted out in the morning at the tents. _That_ name certainly wasn't Jaune's.

It had started with an A.

Abraham? ...No, it had been shorter.

Albert? Closer...

Aaron? The word was at the tip of her tongue.

"Adam?" She guessed out loud. It sounded right. She repeated the name once again as she faced Jaune eagerly. "It was Adam!"

This gave her a complete opposite reaction of what she had been hoping for. She had half-expected him to confirm her thoughts, and with the truth she would have finally buried the secretly growing crush she was harboring inside her. Instead, the blood had drained entirely from Jaune's face. Instantly, he had whirled around to confront her in a quiet but dangerously low voice. "How do you know that name?"

"I...um..."

Advancing forward, he inquired vigorously. "Did Blake tell you?"

"No!" She was the one to edge away from him this time. "I overheard her calling him out."

"What? When? Where?" His eyes darted back and forth. "I didn't hear her mention him at all!"

"It was before you guys were awake," she clarified quickly. "Why? What's the big deal?"

Rather than giving her a fulfilling answer, he stalked off in short, tense strides. From his anxious stance, Yang assumed he wouldn't be talking to her anytime soon. Taking a risky leap, she whistled in a casual tone. "Well, if you won't tell me, guess I'll ask Blake about it."

She had said the magic words.

Straightaway, Jaune had rounded on her, the stony expression on his face making her realize she may have been taking a sensitive subject far too lightly.

"Don't even think about doing that," he warned, not so kindly.

"Look, I understand that we don't know each other that well and I don't mean to pry... but I..." The blonde was lost with the process of explaining her motives, as she wasn't sure about her own keen desire to learn about Blake's life.

"To be honest, I'm not sure why I want to know either," Yang admitted quietly, an unfamiliar blush forming on her cheeks. "I think I may have a...a teensy tiny little crush on your friend, okay?"

Without any fabrications, the truth satisfied the photographer by a small margin.

"So...is this guy her boyfriend...?" asked Yang, tentatively.

"No." Jaune shook his head. "Well, honestly...I'm not so sure. Maybe they weren't completely platonic but they were never an official couple. They were close...more like a family. Blake usually talked about him like he was her older brother."

"What do you mean...was?" She was afraid of the response even as she asked.

* * *

"You've been awfully quiet for a while..." Pyrrha commented softly to the blonde, who was sitting beside her in a strangely subdued manner.

"Huh?" said Yang vaguely, her mind still strongly fixated on a prior conversation.

The redhead stared worriedly at her downcast friend. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," she groaned in reply, burying her face in her hands. "I feel really stupid, that's all."

The secret discussion she had held with Jaune did not improve her mood. She had started the interrogation out mildly troubled, uneasy about her brewing feelings for the writer, and jealousy towards Jaune for the friendly chemistry he had with Blake. With the two hints she acquired, a male name and a mysterious sketching of a man, she had forced herself to believe that Blake was in a relationship. Blake must have given her a cold shoulder because her methods of flirtations were too abrasive, creating an uncomfortable situation.

Yet, none of these scenarios had been true. Blake didn't have a boyfriend. The girl was as single as she was. Instead, she was coping over the death of a person who could have been her best friend, a close brotherly figure, or worse, the man of her dreams.

In neither sequences of events could Yang possibly think she had a chance with this girl. Even so, she still wished it had been the former. At least it would have been much less painful for one of them.

Currently, Blake was a few feet away from them, setting up a tent with Jaune before the sky got too dark. It was closing around evening. They had busily walked for prolonged hours, resting multiple times along the way for water breaks, some intervals of recess taking longer than others thanks to a fatigued Jaune.

Nonetheless, they had arrived on schedule by night to a large clearing of a cliff. It had been indicated on the map for travelers to use to camp at before finishing up the trail to the canyon the next morning.

Soon enough both shelters were propped on the ground, thin fabric supported by poles and stretched tightly by cords attached to pounded pegs.

"You guys hungry yet?" Jaune asked as he sat down on the dirt floor. The photographer had kept his cheery demeanor regardless of their previous earnest chat. He and Yang hadn't directly spoken to each other in a while, having reached a mutual agreement not to discuss the topic any further. Now they chose polar opposite seats, a campfire roaring in between them.

Pyrrha nodded, rummaging around her backpack and taking out some of the food they had packed for today's stay. The blonde was starving as well, her stomach rumbling and growling.

Blake was staring out into the open air, giving the impression that she had not heard the question. Yang followed the direction of the stare towards the canyon, closer than it had ever been before them. Her amber eyes were clouded by a deep sense of foreboding and visible terror.

"I'm going to go find some more firewood," said Blake faintly, and before anyone could tell her that they already had plenty to spare she disappeared into a trail of bushes. Only a few seconds had ticked by when Yang scampered onto her feet, determination suddenly crossing her mind.

"Me too," claimed the blonde as she dashed off onto the same road. Jaune didn't have the chance to stop either of them. Grumbling slightly, he stared into the burning flames of the fire, sitting awkwardly from across the red-haired athlete as the two were now left alone in the middle of the silence brought on by nature.

"It seems as though my friend's got a bit of a crush on your friend." Pyrrha started in a pleasant tone.

"Yeah..." The photographer hesitated in his answer, doodling lines into the ground with the end point of a broken tree branch. "No, it's great."

Pyrrha caught the delay in the reciprocation. "Are you sure you mean that?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just that... Your friend doesn't seem that...sincere about a lot of things." Jaune revealed his true thoughts regarding the blonde.

"Funny, I didn't think you were the serious type." Pyrrha poked fun at the man's ironic comment.

"That's different," the photographer insisted as he tossed the stick into the fire. "I was trying to cheer up my friend!"

The athlete stared quizzically at the blond boy. Sighing, he added on quietly, "Blake's...not in a good place right now. I don't want to see her get hurt anymore."

"...It's true that Yang may not be the most...gentle person out there." Pyrrha hummed in agreement. "But you don't know her like I do. There's something...different about the way she's acting around Blake. I don't think you need to worry too much."

Azure eyes trailed away from the flickering flame towards the young woman with scarlet hair.

"Yang's a lot more perceptive and caring than you give her credit for. And I can tell she's being pretty serious this time." The redhead grinned slightly. "Especially since she hasn't tried and messed things up by using her normal routine."

"Which is...?"

Pyrrha giggled. "Shamelessly flirting until she finally collects the girl's number."

"That's charming." Jaune chuckled in good humor. A moment of silence passed by before he cleared his throat again. "Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend her or anything. She seems like a pretty great friend to have around. You two must go way back, huh?"

"We've been friends since college." A smirk danced around her lips. "We met on the sports field. I was playing tennis and she was outside enjoying the sun. It's a lot tamer than your story with Blake."

"No one can pull off that kind of first impression except me, Jaune Arc." He pointed to his chest proudly, choosing to laugh off the potentially embarrassing memory. "That's no fun though. With Yang, I would have expected her to...to ride into a building on a Harley or something."

"I wouldn't give her any ideas." She laughed playfully. "That sounds like a stunt she could easily pull off."

A glint of envy shimmered over. "Does she own a motorcycle?"

Pyrrha nodded in confirmation, remembering the yellow and black two-wheeled vehicle the blonde cherished so much. "It even has a name. She calls it the Bumblebee. A lot of it is hand crafted from when she was a university student. Yang used to study mechanical engineering."

"Man, I miss college." Jaune leaned back onto his backpack. "Being able to learn what you want to learn. Figuring out what you want to do with your life. Wasn't it the best?"

"I suppose so..." There was a wistful change in tone that Jaune barely caught. "Did you always want to be a photographer?"

"Not at all." He replied with no second dwelling. "I went to a liberal arts school, hoping to find what I should do with my life. Photography was one of the classes I chose to take during my first year."

Jaune fidgeted with the camera in his hands, the long strap of it still swung around his neck. "But it turned out to be the best decision of my life. Wasn't it like that for you? You know, with tennis?"

"I'm not so sure..." Pyrrha was smiling in an oddly strained way.

"Oh, come on! You're Pyrrha Nikos." Jaune laughed nervously. "World famous sports star. You've got to love tennis. You probably can't wait to get back on court as soon as this trip is over, right?"

"Actually... I'm out for this season."

The sudden, unforeseen confession, carrying so much importance and gossip, caused Jaune to nearly collapse onto the ground, completely flabbergasted.

"You- Wait, you're what?" Blue eyes bulged out of their sockets, darting towards the sullen redhead, as he reckoned his ears must have been temporarily malfunctioning.

"I have a labral tear in my shoulder." It was definitely not a smile anymore, but more of a grimace. "The doctors said it wouldn't require any big surgery but I felt like it was life's way of telling me to take a break."

"Oh... I...uh... I'm...I'm sorry to hear that." He babbled for a moment, surmising that any sort of injury – big or small – would be quite debilitating for a professional athlete.

"...When I was young, I joined a tennis club for fun. My coach saw a lot of potential and signed me up for regional tournaments. Then my name was being brought up in national championships," she spoke, her hand mindlessly rubbing the sides of her right shoulder. Unfocused green eyes blinked occasionally. Jaune wasn't even sure if the girl remembered he was there anymore. "Eventually...I quit college and made it into the professional league."

"I've been blessed with a lot of talent and opportunities...but sometimes I wish I hadn't even started tennis." Her already weak smile faltered. "When the pressure gets too strong, it's not about the...fun anymore."

"...I understand what you mean." The warmest color of navy blue peered into her, as if the human eye was a window to one's soul.

"I had a whole family line of expectations to live up to. All my older sisters went to prestigious schools, studying what my parents wanted them to." Jaune scoffed. "And me? I was their only son. Boy, did my dad have big hopes for me. He wanted me to be a manly-man, a military man. Like he was, like his father was, and like his grandfather was."

"But...one look at me and you know I'm not warrior material." He laughed at himself, in a non-derisive manner. "So I knew I had to find something I wanted to do. Something I wanted to do for myself."

"Maybe taking a break...going on this trip...was the right answer for you," said the photographer encouragingly. "It gives you enough time to do some reminding."

Pyrrha frowned, not understanding where he was going with this. "Reminding of what?"

"That you do love tennis." He smiled tenderly. "You just forgot what it feels like to play for yourself."

* * *

Blake had gone off trail, not even bothering to check where she was going in case of becoming lost. Burrowing into as much nature as humanely possible, she halted at a small clearing, hidden from view by encircling trees and wild bushes.

Her back arched down, hands planted on both kneecaps and her eyelids tightly shut. She was closer than she ever believed she could be. Even the transpiring darkness of the night couldn't stop her from making out the canyon in the distance.

The devastating beauty of it.

The fall.

The screams.

And the blood. The scattered pool of blood.

Nausea hit her from the sheer memory of it.

Stop.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't-

A twig snapped.

Immediately, Blake's head popped upwards, locating the source of the sound in front of her. A man dressed in black clothing; Adam, leaning casually on a particularly hollow-looking tree, as if he had finished a light stroll around the park.

Breathing in deeply, she ultimately willed her mouth to form words. "...I can see the canyon from here."

He nodded soundlessly, the end frays of his hair following realistically along with the rest of his movements.

Swallowing hard, she added, "This is where we stayed last time."

"It's got a great view." An approving smirk was placed over his chin.

"Adam..." Her voice quivered despite the stillness of the mountain air. "What am I doing?"

"You're standing there. Talking to me," he replied calmly.

"But you're dead." The empty void in her voice startled her. The words she carried were a painful truth. Yet, she had to say it out loud, to convince herself. Otherwise, her mind would continue to play tricks on her, driving her to believe in the incessant lies of a mirage. "You died that day, Adam."

"...I know..." was the unaffected response.

"So then what is this?" Her voice steadily grew louder in volume, increasing alongside fear and unsettling doubt. "What... What are you?"

The man gave no answer. Blank red eyes stared into her with an impassive expression.

"I want to forget. I want to move on. But every time I try to...I feel guilty about letting you go." Her fingers balled up into two shaking fists as Blake finally poured out of her troubled heart. "And it's gotten to the point where I... I see you. I see you standing there. And I can't tell if I'm dreaming or not."

"So please. Tell me." She begged – she implored. "Are you real?"

"Blake... I'm as real as you want me to be."

"What does that mean?" A frustrated growl lurched out from her throat. "Are you a ghost? Just a...a figment of my imagination? Am I going insane? What is it, Adam? Answer me!"

"I'm always here Blake," said Adam. "I will always be there for you."

And with another cryptic remark, his body began to merge into the shadows behind him.

"No! Don't!" Blake dived forward, but she caught nothing in her outstretched arms. She stood in the empty spot where he had vanished, leaving behind not even a single trace. "Don't go..."

"Blake?"

She hadn't anticipated using her ears so soon. Any impending tears instantly evaporated at the unwanted sound of a concerned female voice.

Gasping, Blake flipped around, bumping her head on the tree as she squinted in the dark, making out the outline of a voluptuous blonde.

"Y-Yang? What do you want?" She demanded, sounding evidently tense from her current predicament.

The subsequent question didn't help with her nerves at all.

"Who were you talking to?"


	10. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 5)

Yang had been prowling, shoving bundles of leaves and branches out of the way as she tried to locate the travel writer whose pace was much more stealthy and swift than her own. The blonde considered turning back, believing that her hopeless sense of directions wouldn't help with her chances of finding the girl, if she truly wanted to be alone. That is until she caught onto some fuzzy noises in the distance.

Freezing on the spot, she listened in closely. The mountain air was stationary, allowing neighboring sounds to ring into her eardrums. Raised shouts were coming from behind a hedge approximately a meter away from her earth-coated shoes.

The voice, unmistakably, belonged to Blake. She was yelling out phrases, still quite indistinct and muffled.

Ducking down low, Yang pressed her body onto the nearby bushes, and allowed her senses to comprehend words. Blake appeared to be talking to herself...which didn't make much sense. Why would Blake walk away from the campsite in order to hold a conversation with her own tongue? What puzzled Yang even further was that the girl didn't seem to be just chattering away. She was asking questions.

"Are you real?" Her hearing finally registered a fully phrased sentence.

No answer was spoken. Yang shook her head, trying to focus harder since she must have obviously missed a link in between as Blake carried on as if she had received a response.

"What does that mean? Are you a ghost? Just a...a figment of my imagination? Am I going insane?"

Carefully, Yang advanced forward, resolving not to make any noise until she could conclude what was going on. Lifting her head slightly, she looked through an opening in a clump of shrubs and saw a scene that made her stomach lurch.

Blake was distraught. This was obvious. But to whom she was frustrated at, that still remained unknown.

"What is it, Adam? Answer me!"

There it was again. That cursed name.

The way she was crying out to him almost made Yang believe that Jaune had been lying to her all along. Adam couldn't possibly be dead; he was standing right there in front of Blake, engaging in some sort of a one-sided argument. But no matter how hard Yang scrutinized the landscape, squinting hard among the shadows around the spot Blake's face was turned to, she couldn't identify any signs of life.

"No! Don't!" Blake suddenly shouted, almost stumbling forward. Her hands reached out, as if trying to grab something...or someone.

"Don't go..." She whispered, her arms falling back limply to her sides.

Yang couldn't stand it anymore. This had gone on long enough. The blonde emerged from her hiding place, trying to keep her voice steady and even as she addressed the young woman with black hair. "Blake?"

"Y-Yang?" Blake swung around so violently, with a loud thud that ricocheted into the wilderness, that the blonde was worried she injured herself in the process. "What do you want?"

Yang couldn't quite control the fear and worry inside of her, as the two emotions were audibly etched into her following inquiry. "Who were you talking to?"

Even with the sky growing darker, Yang could still make out the girl's physical features. Blake was deathly pale. Fear turned her cheeks livid. She looked stunned, dazed to the point where she was unable to think or move, merely capable of breathing in and out heavily.

"No one. I was talking to myself," reacted Blake quietly, her shifty attitude betraying the pitiful fib.

"You said Adam. You were talking to a guy named Adam."

"He... No, no. I wasn't," Blake mumbled, avoiding the unblinking gaze of a concerned blonde. "You must have heard wrong."

"That's the name you shouted out in your tent. That's the name you were saying." Yang tried to connect the dots as she spoke. "Blake... Is... Is he here right now?"

Amber eyes gaped up at her in bewilderment. At the lack of a proper reply, she repeated herself. "Adam. Is he here?"

"How do you know about him?" Although she looked mightily weak and feeble, it didn't stop the girl from becoming angrily suspicious. A fierce accusation spat out at the blonde's knowledge regarding the matter. "Did Jaune tell you?"

"That's not important right now." This was the wrong way to go, which Yang realized too late. Clearly this part was essential for Blake to find out about. The blonde fretted over the idea of the girl marching back up to the tents and throttling Jaune for an explanation as to why he would so blatantly reveal such private details to a stranger. Fortunately – or unfortunately – the girl turned on her heel, storming out even further off the road.

"Wait!" Yang cried out, dodging the flinging branches in her way as she tried hard not to lose sight of the writer. "Come back!"

The level of non-response she was receiving was almost aggravating to a certain degree. Punching Mother Nature out of the way, the blonde added harshly, "Hey! If you walk off any farther, we're going to get lost!"

Yang wasn't sure which aspect prickled the girl the most: the astounding amount of meddling she was accomplishing in less than a day or the fact that she was shouting loud enough for the rest of the mountain to hear. Either way, it caused the girl to abruptly halt, swirling around and confronting the blonde with a frustrated stance. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to talk!"

"About what?"

"About you, Blake!" Yang retorted. "I think you need help."

"I'm not crazy!" The girl sputtered, ostensibly bothered by the doubt in her own words.

"No!" The blonde rebuked herself, ruefully thinking that she could have phrased it a lot better. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"This is none of your business." Blake pressed rather defiantly, her face screwed up in anger and vexation. "You don't even know anything about me!"

"Okay, fine! We've established that already!" Yang put up her hands defensively. "And you're absolutely right. I don't know squat about you. Definitely not enough for me to try and get you to talk. It sucks that I can't though, all right?"

Rage flickered very slightly for a moment. Blake looked conflicted between wanting to continue the blazing row and trying to figure out what the blonde was implying.

"So you're a travel writer. So you read a lot and you like to be alone. Even I'll have to admit, those are some pretty shitty pieces of information I have to go on. But I still like you Blake." Earnest lilac eyes gazed at the silent writer. "I like you a lot. And I really, really just want to help."

"...Thank you, Yang," the girl muttered as she brushed past her. "But I think you're wasting your time."

* * *

Jaune shivered, the uncomfortable chill of the morning creeping into his sleeping bag. For some strange reason, the interior of the tent was colder and emptier than it had been when he fell asleep last night.

Lying down on his side, he refused to open his tired eyes. His body felt too heavy to greet another day due to the strenuous amount of hiking he had forced himself to take. Even after a proper eight hour rest, his legs felt as numb as jelly. The back of his neck was sore from the weight of the camera that had been dragging him down yesterday.

Feeling stiff from his current fetal position, he carefully stretched out his legs and turned to lie on his back. He expected to be met with a soft grunt from his companion, a well-known light sleeper. Yet only the sounds of nylon fabric rubbing against each other were heard.

With a low moan, he squirmed and tilted his head towards his left. Blinking sluggishly, he noticed that the spot beside him was vacant.

Suddenly very conscious, Jaune jerked forward, sitting up and scanning the inner arrangement of the shelter. The other pair of sleeping bag was missing and all other traces of belongings from his friend were gone.

Wiggling himself out from the line of paddings, Jaune crawled on all fours, reaching up and opening the top flap zipper in a hazy daze. To his relief, he found a familiar female figure sitting near the stone cliff, staring out at the near canyon. However, it provided him with a very small amount of consolation as his fears were confirmed when he saw that she was already packed and dressed, wearing her favorite black shirt and ankle cropped pants. A lightweight wind jacket was tied around her waist and hiking boots were strapped on over her feet.

At the sound of the photographer's movements, two glowing amber eyes moved to anchor onto him. Blake certainly did not appear to be having her best morning. Her dark hair, attracting much attention from the sun, was wrapped up into a loose ponytail by an inky ribbon. Dark circles have notably deepened . Lack of sleep and rest played a major role to this, though the most significant reason was apprehension above anything else.

"So what?" Jaune asked dryly. "You were just going to take off like that?"

"No," she whispered. "I was going to wait until you woke up."

"Oh yeah?" He retaliated, badly concealing his reproachful tone. "To say what?"

Realizing she could no longer delay the task, Blake resolved to be quick and blunt. "I have to go."

Despite the radical declaration, Jaune's facial expression didn't change. It was as if he was expecting this from the start.

"I have to do this on my own."

His eyes hardened some more.

"...Please understand that."

He shuffled out of the tent while shoving on his runners. Straightening his back as he approached, it took a moment before the photographer opted to speak in a despondent manner. "No, I don't think I will ever be able to understand that."

She listened to him continue in a resigned voice.

"After Adam died, you shut us out for weeks." The girl flinched at the unexpected candidness. "And after months of pretending to be fine and avoiding the issue, you finally came to me last week and said you were going back to Remnant Valley... I'll be honest here Blake... None of what you're doing makes any sense to me."

A short pause, then he resumed in a pacifying voice. "But maybe it's because I never had to experience a loss like you did. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for you right now. But I am your friend...and I can try... So if letting you go down there by yourself will really help you, then I'll do it."

Caring azure eyes gazed into her and Blake felt gratitude fill her insides. "Promise me you'll be safe though, okay?"

Feeling immensely warmer inside, the girl gave him a reassuring nod. "I promise."

"And before I forget..." The boy rushed back to the hanging door of the tent. Rummaging around his hiking pack, he reached down and emptied out its bulging lower compartment. Upon returning to her side, he revealed two metallic devices in both of his hands. They were small, conveniently sized radio transceivers. "I have something for you."

"A...walkie-talkie?"

"Stays connected over a range of thirty kilometers." Jaune smiled as he turned the gadgets on, fidgeting with the dials to make sure they were on the same channel.

"You remembered to pack these but not the map?"

"Are we really going to start this again?"

Smiling ever-so-slightly, Blake reached up and pulled the man around the neck into an unexpected hug.

He heard her murmur a "thank you" into his shirt. Then she broke the embrace, as quickly as she had started it. Now, Blake had never been the first one to initiate physical contact. Ever. Confounded blue eyes blinked down at the girl who pocketed the contraption in the back pocket of her pants.

"Don't worry about me," Blake told him gently, and before he could recover from his shock and wave a goodbye, she ran off to her own course, not looking back for even a short second.

If Jaune wasn't entirely sure about his decision, he certainly didn't feel better about himself thirty minutes later when his fellow travelers began to stir.

During the duration of being woken early, he had munched on a few dry crackers with Blake's leftover sardines and taken down the tent as silently as possible. The fire was lit and he had been boiling the kettle when a drowsy blonde and a refreshed redhead emerged out of their tent.

"Anyone want some coco?" Jaune offered. At the eager mumbles of consent from the duo, he handed each of them a cup of hot chocolate; they gladly took the drinks into their hands as they squatted down next to the flame.

As sleep slowly left the blonde, she surveyed around them, frowning at the fact that they were one member short. "Hey, Jaune?"

"Hmm?"

"Where's Blake?"

"Um... She's...uh...she's not here right now." He answered indeterminately, sipping slowly, careful not to accidentally burn his tongue on the scorching fluid.

"I can see that." Yang quirked an eyebrow at him. "I mean where has she gone?"

Jaune fidgeted with the front of his shirt, appearing to suddenly show great interest in the pattern on the ground. "Oh, she was getting restless so she wanted to get a head start on the hike."

The blonde's mouth had dropped open at his words. "She what?"

"It's no big deal," he said in an unconvincingly casual tone. "We'll meet her when we get there."

This, of course, had been a masterful lie. The photographer gave only vague replies to an undeceived Yang's subsequent questions as they had packed up the campsite and prepared to finish the last kilometer down Mountain Glenn.

* * *

It was staggeringly hot at the ground level of the Vale Canyon. Rays of sunlight rained down upon the stony surfaces. Heat resonated off the dirt and rocks.

Yet, these weren't the only factors attributing to the uncomfortable atmosphere.

A toned woman with vibrant scarlet hair leaned on a large boulder, basking in its cool shade. She wore a high ponytail, with a beige visor resting over her forehead. Standing parallel to her, in an orange sleeveless shirt, was a full-figured blonde. The extensive length of her bright yellow hair must have been quite a weight to carry around; nevertheless Yang wouldn't allow the redhead to even consider trapping her precious curls with a hair tie. They were waiting for their traveling companion to return. Jaune had left a few moments ago, stating that he was going to go visit a nearby park station and contact Blake.

Not being able to take a second more of her partner's uncharacteristic silence, Pyrrha turned a half-worried, half-accusatory gaze towards the blonde. "You barely ate breakfast. You didn't say anything coherent for the past hour. And you didn't pass out snoring the minute you laid down to sleep last night. I think it's about time you tell me what's going on."

Sighing, Yang faced the pair of green eyes staring into her. Pyrrha was crossing her arms, waiting patiently for an explanation. At the glum expression on her friend's face, the red-haired athlete added tentatively, "I'm assuming the talk yesterday didn't go so well?"

The blonde didn't have to think hard about that question.

"No, it went swell!" Yang responded in a sarcastically jolly tone.

The blonde glared up at the blue sky, listening to the windy breeze howling across the open valleys. "It's like...it's like playing tennis. You're standing there, waiting to rally, but the other person refuses to serve the ball!"

Pyrrha almost laughed. "What kind of analogy is that?"

"I was only trying to speak your language," said Yang tartly.

Pyrrha hummed gently, her left forefinger twirling around the ends of the golden locks flowing next to her. After a period of quietude, she asked in a purposely offhand manner: "Are you falling in love with her?"

"Yes." Yang paused, having been caught off-guard as confused panic spread across her face. "What? No! No, no, no, no, no...? Yeah, okay, we'll file that under the maybe column."

"Oh good." The redhead smirked. "I was hoping you would be clear about this."

"Is it weird...? Is it weird to be feeling this way about someone I met two days ago?" Yellow hair flew in the air as the girl shook her head in denial. "People can't fall in love that quickly, can they?"

"It's not impossible." Pyrrha smiled softly. "So what exactly are you feeling towards this girl?"

"I don't know... There's something about her that makes me want to be there for her, all the time..." Yang groaned; she rubbed the back of her neck and attempted to sort out her thoughts. "And maybe I'm being too pushy about this, but I want to help her out somehow. She just won't let me."

Pyrrha merely bobbed her head, a jocular grin not leaving her lips. "But that's never stopped you before."

Before Yang could reply, her film of thought was abruptly interrupted as Jaune arrived back, muttering to himself with his face hidden behind a large opened brochure.

According to the handout he had picked up from the station, Vale Canyon had three folds of trails to choose from. The first one, Beacon Road, was elementary, described as non-challenging, tranquil, and recording the least amount of accidents so far.

The level of difficulty grew higher by the number, as the second course – Haven – was reported as harder, but not too demanding.

And the last pathway, Atlas track, was leagues apart from the others, publicly advertised as incredibly taxing. He didn't need to finish reading the paragraph for the third trail as he was already dreadfully well-informed. Jaune thought it would have been better fitting for the commentary to state: "A grueling, dangerous hike with unexpected rock falls and flash floods!"

"Considering Pyrrha's injury and my stamina, I think we should take Beacon Road to be safe. It says here that-"

"Jaune. Where is Blake?" An irritated blonde cut him off, emphasizing each of her words when he had returned without the black-haired girl by his side.

"I told you. She got a head start," the photographer replied curtly.

"Didn't you say we were meeting her here?" Yang countered, searching around the boy as if Blake was being obscured by his hiking gear.

"No, I didn't!" Jaune pointed out in a strangely triumphant manner. "I said we would meet her when we get there. I didn't specify where 'there' was. So technically I wasn't lying. You see what I mean?"

Greatly annoyed lilac eyes narrowed at him, with the merest trace of a growl being heard by Pyrrha. Sighing in defeat, he marched forward towards the picket sign that read Beacon.

"She's taking the Atlas track," said Jaune brusquely. "We'll meet back here in the end."

"What do you mean she's taking the Atlas track?" Yang approached him rather abrasively. "Why are we going separately?"

"She wants to be alone and I'm respecting her decision." He shrugged, not cowering under the tall girl's incredulous stares. "Coming to this canyon was her idea of grieving. If this is how she needs to do it, I can't stop her."

"So you let her go?" The blonde stood, dumbfounded at the photographer. Jaune didn't wait to hear another complaint from the blonde as he turned away to walk down the stony trail. Pyrrha remained in the middle, panning left to right, completely uninformed of the whole situation.

Yang tried to process his line of reasoning, as rationally and logically as she possibly could.

Out of the trio here, he definitely knew Blake the longest; meaning he probably understood her the most. He must have thought about it thoroughly before choosing to let his friend take a treacherous path by herself. Yes, if Blake had made up her mind to travel inside this canyon, alone, to mourn the loss of a loved one, then why shouldn't she regard the girl's decision as final?

But Yang was familiar with one crucial fact that perhaps the boy hadn't come to realize yet. She knew that solitude could never be a luxury, because deep down, nobody ever wants to be alone.

With that in mind, she took all prepossessed thoughts...

And threw it out the window.

"It says here that it'll take us about two hours to get to half point, so if we start heading out now, we'll make it back here in less than five hours." Jaune notified the rest of the party as he finished reading the brochure and was folding it back into a rectangle.

"Uh...Jaune...?"

"Yes, Pyrrha?" He grunted as his eyes were fixated on the flyer crinkled in a strange way, having been creased in the opposite direction.

A skittish redhead laughed slightly from behind him. "I think now's a good time to mention something about my friend."

"What?"

"She never listens."

* * *

One step. One step was all it took for Blake to fall back onto the ground again. Her limbs shook as she crouched down slowly, both her hands grabbing onto the side railing, sticking so physically close to the stone wall that her cheeks were being steadily burned by the heated rocks. At the left side of her body was a steep cliff, dropping into the floor of a canyon, only about four stories high for now, but growing deeper and deeper into the craggy grounds for the next two hundred meters.

Blake forced her wobbly legs to straighten while breathing in and out loudly. Her shoes moved from their rooted positions, taking a medium-sized step forward. A strong warm breeze whizzed past her ears, causing her bangs to fly around, the end frays poking at her forehead.

At the last second of the passing wind, she peeked through carefully opened lids and caught a glimpse of the other side. And as if possessed by an insane spirit, Blake found her body being dragged closer to the cliff; her half-lid amber eyes peered down at the vast bottom of the canyon. The floor appeared rough and cold, despite the scorching sun sweltering down upon it. Her head swirled as she caught the color of yellowish brown stone being set ablaze by the sphere of fire, heated and heated, until the surface of it turned red, dark red...

No.

Blake jumped backwards, leaning against the wall, panting heavily with both hands slammed over her face for good measure.

There was no pool of blood. No body, she reminded herself.

She tried to fix her mind on carefree and fluffy subjects.

Cats. Books. Jaune.

Tuna. Writing. Jaune.

Yet her body failed to calm down; her heart beating so rapidly, thumping so hard that she felt her arteries could burst at any moment.

"Blake."

Uncomfortable warmth prickled at her knuckles instead of a human touch. But she had heard his voice for sure, and for the first time in weeks, she was truly glad to know that the man was there.

"Look at me."

She obeyed. Compliantly removing her hands, she gaped up at the man who was stooping adjacent to her, leveling a soothing maroon stare.

"Keep your eyes on me."

Blake did not bother to nod; she knew she would do this regardless of him asking. He held out his gloved hand, and though they both realized she couldn't take it, she reciprocated the gesture, her right gripping on the side rail and her left reaching out towards him. Her fingers hovered in the air as they tried to stick closely to his open palm as possible. Focusing on this task, she willed her legs to advance forward.

"You're doing great."

...

 _"_ _You're doing great...right on par with my grandmother."_ _A man teased as he waited at the top of a rocky hill._

 _"_ _Shut up." A girl retorted as she climbed up next to him. "You have longer legs."_

 _"_ _I do? Why thank you for noticing. I suppose I am quite flattering to look at."_

 _"_ _And you wonder why you're single," she commented wryly._

...

"One step at a time."

...

 _"_ _Wow." The man remarked, finishing the last bit of the steep path in a sprint. "The view's amazing up here."_

 _"_ _It really is." The girl smirked. "The one time Jaune's not around."_

 _"_ _It's fine. I brought my camera."_

...

"Stay with me, Blake."

...

 _"_ _Do you hear that?"_

 _"_ _Hear what?"_

 _"_ _It sounds like...rocks."_

 _"_ _I'm sure it's nothing."_

 _"_ _Adam...?" She noticed pebbles shaking from distant vibrations. The noises grew louder and louder, approaching like a wild storm._

 _He didn't answer. His eyes were fixed upwards, widened in unforgettable horror._

...

"Don't think about that. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

...

 _"_ _No!" She shouted as she saw the man throw her aside to safety before toppling over the cliffs as the ground beneath his feet crumbled._

 _"_ _No! Adam! No! No!" She collapsed onto her stomach, crawling towards the edge, half of her body dangling down, searching, desperately searching, only to find nothing but his broken body lying on top of shattered stones, thousands of feet down below._

 _Even in the distance, she could see the blood. Red, sticky, hot..._

 _Sick. She felt sick._

...

She stared up at him, breaths coming in searing gasps, tears streaking from the corners of her eyes.

"You made it, Blake. You made it."

He retracted his hand, miming at her to examine her surroundings. The two hundred meters of cliff trail was left behind her. The place that haunted her dreams, no longer in plain view. Swallowing and wiping her face clean, Blake felt the energy and adrenaline empty out of her. Her knees buckled and she collapsed down onto the graveled dirt floor.

She stayed, motionless on the path.

Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to half an hour. When she heard ceaseless, even breathing from beside her, she finally titled her head, breaking out of the statuesque form.

"...What do I do now?" She asked faintly.

"Now you can go home and get some rest," he grunted.

"I'm serious."

"You're always serious."

"You told me this would help me somehow." Words came out in a meek whisper. "But I don't feel any better. I don't feel any different. Actually, I feel even worse than before...and I didn't think that was possible until today."

"What? You thought doing _this_ was going to fix everything?" He motioned towards the trail behind them. "That going through this path would make everything better?"

"I...I don't know what I think anymore."

"It doesn't work that way," Adam admonished in an unreasonably harsh tone. "Nothing works that way."

"Then why did you make me come back here?" She snapped bitterly. "How was this trip supposed to help me?"

"I wanted you to take your goddamn mind off of me for just five seconds and think about somebody else for a change!" The man exploded. Frustrated red eyes burned in their sockets as he bounded up from the ground in a raging fit. "You are single-handedly screwing over all the people who care about you! Why can't you see that? Why do you only see me?"

"Because you're dead! Am I supposed to forget about you and act like you never existed?" Blake yelled with equal force, declining to surrender.

"Yes! Do that! That's much better than what you're doing now!" He shouted, baring his teeth pointedly at her direction, like a rabid animal. "How do you think watching you throw your life away makes me feel? You think...you think I _like_ showing up in front of you all the time?"

He let out a humorless, derisive laugh. "You think I _like_ watching you held up in your bedroom, believing that you're growing more and more _insane_ whenever you see me?"

"No, you don't know how that feels, Blake! You don't!" Adam refused to stop, his finger pointing accusingly down at the wide-eyed woman. Face contorted in fury, he bellowed, "You watched me die _once_ , but I have to watch you die _every fucking day._ You think _you_ can't move on? _I'm_ the one who can't move on!"

"Adam...I'm so sorry if-"

"Don't say that! Stop apologizing! It wasn't your fault! It was my fault!" Arms shot up and fingers gripped tightly onto the sides of his ruffled hair, making him look more or less deranged. "I fucked up, okay? I fucked up bad! We should have never came here in the first place but I just had to drag you here! _I'm_ sorry. I'm sorry I left you, I'm sorry that I had to go! But it was my choice to push you aside! My fucking choice, not yours! Why can't you understand that? Why?"

"So stop this!" He meant it to be an appeal, though it came out as an exhausted demand. "Stop killing yourself over what happened. If not for yourself, then for me, because I...I can't stand it anymore."

His barks, if only audible to the whole world, would have echoed off the canyon walls, through the mountains, to the desert. The fire in his eyes had died out, buried resentment having been poured out in one solid diatribe. Perhaps too tired to raise his voice again, Adam allowed the silence of the canyons to engulf them once more.

Blake was left shell-shocked. Her amber irises could have sewn themselves onto the collar of his shirt, the spot where she had chosen to look in order to avoid the direct emotions of hurt and suffering in his gaze. She would have forgotten how to breathe if the tense moment hadn't been rudely intervened by a buzzing noise coming from her pocket.

"Blake? Blake, are you there? Over."

Maintaining her frail gaze fixated on the man, she grabbed the transceiver with her left hand and drew it nearer to her face.

"Go ahead, over," said Blake, hoarsely as she clicked on the transmission button.

"...Are you okay? You don't sound too good. Over."

"I'm fine, over."

"Well... Listen... I don't know how to tell you this but..." She heard an exasperated exhale fuzz through the second-rate connection. "Yang went after you...about half an hour ago."

Massaging the throbbing vein in her forehead, she broke away from Adam, whose penetrating red orbs were gleaming down at her rather calmly now.

"I couldn't exactly stop her. She was...she was really worried about you because... Don't get mad but...I may have told her about Adam. I'm sorry." He added in a nervous manner. "...Over."

"...It's all right." Blake had expected this, judging from the touchy conversation she had with the blonde yesterday evening. What she had not predicted was the former part, that the blonde would be concerned enough to venture onto Atlas track.

The persistence of the blonde baffled her. How could an individual be so selfless and trusting to follow a complete stranger onto a dangerous path, just to make sure she was okay? She wasn't worth the trouble, Blake believed. Yet, the boisterous girl must have disagreed since she acted almost as troubled as Jaune, someone who she had known for years beforehand.

Jaune, whom she was fortunate enough to befriend, usually went out of his way to make sure she was always enjoying herself. Dragging her out to parties and social gatherings, the photographer once told her that he wouldn't allow her to waste her youth being alone, reading dodgy old books. For someone who had been insistent and determined throughout the lengthy period they've been friends, he had been oddly reserved the past few weeks. Blake thought that this was his way of allowing her to cope freely. Now she realized. He didn't have a choice. He could do nothing, because that is all she ever let him do: she had burned the bridge between them.

One more look into Adam's attentive eyes and she finally understood what the man had meant all along.

With a shaky intake of air, Blake brought the transceiver above her chin. "Jaune. I'm sorry I lied. I'm not fine... I haven't been fine for a while."

There was silence on the other line, and Blake was thankful that this was a radio connection and not a phone call. Taking as much time as she needed, she continued. "Is that...okay? ...Over."

"Of course that's okay, Blake. You know you can tell me anything. Over."

"...I know... Thank you..." Blake breathed gently. "Enjoy the view, Jaune. Over and out."

"You know...it was nice having another screaming match." Adam faked an insouciant shrug, almost as if he was feeling slightly sheepish for his uncalled outburst. "Almost felt alive for a second there."

Blake ignored the cynical joke as she put away the walkie-talkie into her pocket.

"You were right," she said, lifting herself up from the ground. He observed her, heedful of her every movement, as they exchanged a purging glance. "This trip wasn't supposed to be about coming back here."

He smiled fondly at her words. "Let's go meet your new friend."

* * *

Jaune ended the talk in a dazed trance.

He had expected the yelling of his lifetime from Blake, who was already piled up to the max in the stress compartment. Throwing in the fact that he spilled the beans about her past to a complete stranger and that this complete stranger was on her way there to confront her again really didn't seem like two ideas that would do fine on Blake's court.

Despite all odds, Jaune had received not a scolding but an apology – an apology for having lied to him about her state of mind. It was crystal clear to see that Blake was indeed not "fine." Nonetheless, the girl never liked to accept help from others nor did she like to seem vulnerable, inviting in unwanted pity. She was stubbornly strong that way. Therefore, a verbal admission from Blake, telling somebody else that she was, by all means, not "okay" was an unprecedented feat.

He finally had news to bring home that wouldn't end up with a smack over the head by a frustrated Nora and a mute glare from Ren.

Maybe, just maybe, things would return back to normal again.

He looked up to see the enormity of planet earth greet him. The wonders of the world always astounded him, ensuring that his line of work would never come to an end. And he would most definitely enjoy the view, as his friend advised, when he caught the sight of a familiar redhead walking ahead of him, a couple of meters away.

Pyrrha had sped up her pace to distance herself from him, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on his conversation. Granted, he hadn't asked her to do this, but the professional athlete appeared to have habituated manners.

Smiling dreamily, Jaune hoisted his camera back to his nose, the combined beauty of the canyon and the girl tempting him to an overwhelming degree. It was a quick picture, and as soon as the shutter sound was emitted, Pyrrha turned around, lashes sweeping up as she blinked at him curiously.

He raced forward to her side and she welcomed him with a warm smile. "Did your talk go well?"

"It went great." He grinned from ear-to-ear. Holding his camera up to his chest, believing that the polite action to take would be to show her his work. "And here!"

Pyrrha studied the screen carefully and shamrock eyes widened slightly as she recognized her own figure in the shot. He laughed nervously and checked for any signs of distaste. "Do you like it?"

"Well, you certainly know how to take a good photo," she said appreciatively. "The canyon looks beautiful."

"Yeah...the canyon looks beautiful..." Jaune rolled his eyes at the humble nature of the redhead. Under normal circumstances, the canyon would be the attention grabbing aspect of the picture. However, the way the camera lens caught onto the young woman's modest steps - simple yet refined - and the way her long mane of scarlet hair dazzled brighter under the sun...

Cheeks turned warm and the photographer tried to shake the woolly daydream out of his mind.

"Jaune?"

"J-Just thinking about camera lenses, don't mind me!" He rambled on, jolted by the sudden addressing of his name.

"No, Jaune." Pyrrha frowned. "Do you hear that?"

"Huh?" He paused, trying to discern the meaning behind her words. His hearing picked up on an inexplicable noise coming from a distance, reverberating sounds of large objects tumbling down at a rapid speed. The loud roaring ballooned in volume, bouncing off clearly in the still valleys. And at the climax of the uproar...there was a crash, followed by a mild quiver of vibrations reaching his shoes, and then utter silence.

His uplifted mood fading right away, Jaune snatched up the transceiver into his hands and called into it. "Blake? Can you hear me? Over."

The tennis player gave him an anxious look when no response was emitted.

"Blake. I'm not kidding, answer me. Over."

Still nothing.

His heart dropped into an endless chasm as dread seized him instantaneously, and he had never been so relieved in his life to hear the sound of static extending out towards him.

"Thisshig...rrreeerrrk...kssstchhh...fell...ksssk...hurt...kurchhhh...help!...kurchhhhhkk" and the rest of the message were drowned by a sandstorm of electronic din.

Two pairs of petrified eyes stared into each other.

"That wasn't Blake," mumbled Jaune.

"No." Pyrrha was washed over in a chill of fear. "That sounded like...Yang."


	11. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 6)

It took a mere second for the smile to drop. His face snapped over to a fixed point in the distance; Blake followed his gaze and saw nothing but a calm, mountainous landscape.

"You need to hurry," he said ominously and before she could question him on the matter, the man careened around the corner, abandoning her on the trail she had just barely made through.

"What...? Adam!" Blake frowned as she tried to follow his rapidly shrinking silhouette. Her legs halted after two meters into the tracks, intimidated by the sound of a sinister wind blowing from underneath the ledge.

"You crossed it once, you can cross it again!"

He was right. This was stupid.

Not bothering to watch where her feet were going, not even once stopping to peer over the cliff, Blake raced forward to the other side. But Adam didn't stop there. He sped off, revisiting the path of steep layers of rock that extended vertically, leading back to the mouth of the canyon.

"You know we're really not supposed to run!" She huffed angrily, her hands hooking onto the unrefined structures, heaving herself up until she was nicely perched on the peak of the mound. Despite the obvious joke he could have made, claiming that the deceased didn't need to follow any safety protocols, Adam remained silent as he stood scrutinizing over the tall walls of the uneven canyon. His hawk eyes hardened even more as they moved to survey the track ahead; a lone figure was pacing on it rather quickly.

"Yang?" Blake said as she spotted the blonde as well.

"It's happening again." Adam was beginning to step backwards. To Blake's horror, she saw, for the first time, his body turn steadily transparent before her.

"You... You can't be serious." Feline eyes squinted up at the tips of the gorge towering above them. And she detected it too: the unmistakable quiver of earth, equally as forbidding as the last time she had witnessed it.

"I'm always serious."

Blake turned her pale complexion to the approaching blonde; Yang had seen the writer now and she was waving at her relatively happily, completely unaware of the fact that she was currently walking over a shallow grave.

"Stop! Go back! Go back now!" Blake shouted loudly, raising her arms and moving them frantically in the air. Adrenaline pumped ears caught onto the sounds of rumbling stones in the distance. The blonde slowed her steps, looking evidently perplexed and oddly hurt. Yang turned her head upwards to the hair-raising source, brows furrowed in confusion.

Blake knew she was out of the immediate danger zone. She would be safe here, in the elevated location Adam had chosen for her. She knew that.

So why did she feel so strongly compelled to voluntarily hurtle herself towards an impending doom?

It wasn't the underlying goodness of the human heart. Please, she was the most cynical being in the whole universe. This force that fueled her onward, it was much deeper, dwelling beyond the principles of right and wrong, suspending over any virtuous, noble moral order.

Cursing profusely in an atypical manner, Blake found that her legs were moving on their own accord. Charging forward, swallowing down the metallic taste of blood in her parched throat, Blake closed the distance between them in record breaking speed. The rocky crests were beginning to crumble away like a house of cards. The blonde was gaping up at the threatening sight, mouth slightly ajar, lilac eyes as big as millstones.

Moist fingers lunged forward, desperately grasping onto the other's calloused hand.

"What...the...hell?" Yang couldn't tear her eyes away from the disaster before her, unable to fully comprehend the situation. Her body was paralyzed in shock, barely budging as Blake harshly pulled on her arm in the opposite direction, away, as far away from the road behind them as possible. The walls were collapsing rapidly, being beaten down by an unpredictable mineral shower from above.

"Move!" Blake shrieked at her, dragging the heavy blonde alongside her, trying her utmost best not to lose balance on the path that was now visibly shaking. Dust and fragmented rocks pelted their bodies, bruising and cutting bits of bare skin. Their luck of dodging ran dry as Blake's voice was promptly drowned by the booming roar of gravity pulling the last pieces of debris down, bombarding the road in front of them and blockading their sole route of escape.

Blake scanned around their surroundings and caught onto the pinnacle of the rock fall: a massive boulder barreling down, limiting time to think or move as its course was charted straight towards their direction.

With one last-ditch effort to survive, Blake did the only thing she could think of. Certifiably insane by this point, the travel writer tackled the blonde into a tight, snake-like embrace and launched the two of them off into the open air.

Yang's circulated brain caught only glimpses of black hair and a sweaty neckline as a flurry of actions passed by during the longest fifteen seconds of her life. Blake had latched onto her: the girl's right arm encircling around her back, and the girl's left limb sheltering the sides of her neck, a controlled hand wrapping gently but tightly over the back of her head.

She felt her legs leave the paved earth, and as her body descended, her arms instinctively fastened around Blake's waist as well. Her stomach floated – the sickening sensation of falling miraculously lasting for only a few seconds. Yang heard Blake let out a cry of pain as she was the first to make impact. Blake's hold on her slackened markedly and the blonde was forced to be the one to constrict harder. Peeking through partially opened eyes, the blonde watched the world plunge into wild chaos as they rolled down a slanted slope. And soon they were hurled off of solid ground once again.

Yang groaned as she landed hard onto a cool rocky surface; the unexpected crash causing her to weaken her clutch and Blake toppled over several times from momentum. The blonde's head spun as they finally came to a halt in unforeseen darkness.

The aftermath of the accident left a hollow ringing sound in Yang's ears. The world seemed to sound blocked and swathed by a sheet of silence. For a second, the blonde laid on her spine, panting in short gasps, frightened of the prospect that she had gone deaf. Thankfully, the cloud faded slowly and the first thing her senses caught onto was the noise of static. Feeling dizzy, she searched around her. They had fallen through into some form of a low cavern. Rays of sunlight was visible, a lengthy distance to her right. Otherwise the low ceiling effectively blocked out majority of the light. Tilting her head to the left, she saw Blake several meters away from her, lying sideways in shadows, her face turned towards the blonde with a motionless, unconscious visage.

"Blake...?" Yang called out in a scratchy voice. The girl did not respond. An electrical buzz whirled in the background. There was a recognizable male pitch mashed inside it somewhere. Slackened violet eyes found the layout of a small device centered between them. She tried to get up, but shooting pain seared across her shoulder down into her right arm.

The blonde growled in frustration and let out a train of profanity. Striving pitifully not to move the injury, Yang tried to reach the radio by subtly turning, stretching out her left arm until finally she was able to grab the hunk of metal within her clammy fingers. Putting it almost against the brim of her nose, she realized that it was a radio transceiver.

Pulling back onto the ground as soon as she accomplished her goal, Yang tried to even her breathing, squinting and finding the transmit button. She pressed down on the knob and shouted as lucidly as she could: "Jaune! We were- There's been an accident!"

"We fell off a...off the trail and I-I think Blake might be hurt!" Glancing nervously at the girl adjacent to her, she howled. "We need help! Can you hear me? We need help!"

The contraption wheezed a number of times, and then contributed to silence. Hoping to all things good and pure that Jaune or Pyrrha would have understood the distress call, Yang carefully placed the walkie-talkie next to her, in case the photographer would try to contact them again with a better connection.

She had to move. She had to check and see if Blake was okay, if she was breathing, if she was even alive... She had to check. Thankfully the rest of her body, though stiff and aching from blossoming bruises, was still movable. On the other hand, her shoulder was suffering from an uncomfortably familiar set of throes. Yang struggled to move the corresponding arm and felt immediate resistance to any sort of action, allowing the blonde to self-diagnose herself based upon previous experiences.

"...Yang?" A faint whisper tickled her ears and Yang snapped her neck painfully towards her companion. Blake was sitting up, an arm holding her upper body above the ground, and her free hand rubbing her temple. "What...happened...? Why...?"

Memories appeared to pour into the girl mid-sentence. Fear replaced the state of stupor as she let out a tiny gasp, ogling down at the blonde with astronomical concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great...maybe some minor bruises." Yang said weakly, immense relief filling her guts. The unconvinced travel writer got up to her feet, wobbling slightly as she approached the blonde. Amber irises widened and pupils dilated, adjusting to the blackness of the shelter. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

"Why are you lying down?" Blake knelt down next to her, ignoring the prior questions. "I-I can't see anything."

"I..." Yang finally let a honest groan escape from her lips. "I think I dislocated my shoulder."

Blake took an odd approach to this piece of news. She began to frisk herself, inspecting her pockets, muttering the words: "...My transceiver."

"It's here." Yang winced as she picked up the device and passed it into the girl's open palm. "I already tried using it but I'm not sure if Jaune heard me."

Blake took the object, smoothly perusing its perimeter until she found what she wanted. With a small click, light illuminated their direct vicinity. Yang shut her eyes at the sudden blinding light shining upon her. She didn't know it had a feature like that.

Cringing from the sudden stress on her corneas, Yang tried to tilt her head away from the glow and catch a better look at the other girl.

Her jaw dropped.

"You're bleeding!" Yang cried out in horror as her head jerked upwards, catching an unmistakable glimpse of red liquid on the side of the girl's face. Blake, in instinctive response, moved the flash downwards, masking the top of her head in the cave's shadows. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Stop moving," commanded Blake placidly.

"Blake, you need to treat your wound!"

"I will. Just...just let me do yours first." Blake gritted her teeth and Yang wasn't entire sure if this was a sign of pain or annoyance. The two exchanged a long, uncompromising glare. The blonde was sure, from the girl's already proven obstinacy, that it would require physical restraints to examine the girl's wound without any bothersome objections. Seeing as how both her limbs were barely usable, Yang conceded that the optimal measure to take was hastening the procedure of her own treatment.

"Fine," Yang relented in a moan, trying not to make any sudden screams in case of frightening the girl. "Is it...is it swollen?"

"Not too much," Blake murmured, scanning the rest of her arm thoroughly. "How bad is the pain?"

"Bearable," lied Yang, before hastily adding on in a feeble pleading, "Could you help me pop it back in?"

"You want me to do what?" The blonde didn't have to listen hard to notice the alarmed tone in Blake's voice.

"I need you to help me relocate it," she reiterated as calmly as she could manage. "It's easy. Here, move my arm out to a-"

"Ninety degree angle." Blake finished the sentence in a faint whisper. "I read about it before. I've just...I've never actually done it before."

Yang smiled despite herself. "I trust you."

Taking in a deep breath, Blake gave the blonde a shaky but determined nod. Setting the transceiver down, Blake drew nearer as she leaned in, and for a second Yang caught the musty smell of blood mix into the air of dirt and stone. Yet her nerves took over, olfactory senses temporarily sidetracked as the blonde's focus shifted to her shoulder when the black-haired woman tenderly moved her arm into an angular position.

Preparing for the next large step, Blake shifted on the ground, sitting down her rear. There were sounds of heavy breathing as the girl struggled to unstrap her hiking shoes, taking them off one at a time, revealing two thick pairs of socks underneath. She extended her right foot forward, placing it gently against Yang's torso.

Blake then picked up the two-way radio and placed it in her mouth, biting down on the bottom half of it, ensuring the usage of both her hands as well as clear sight of the injury. As she did this, the smell of blood and sweat was distinctly clear to Yang now.

"Blake...?"

"Hold still" was what Blake probably meant to say. But with the object positioned in between her jawlines, it came out garbled. Yang felt tired fingers wrap around her wrist and she tried her best to relax her muscles.

With the white light being reflected on the sharp corners of her face, Blake wore a rather ghostly visage. Dim amber eyes narrowed in intense concentration and both of them held their breaths as the slackened arm moved slowly upwards. Yang bit down on her tongue, an inarticulate sound of pain escaping from the bottom of her throat. Violent thrashes filled her right side until the few agonizing seconds ended with a small popping effect as the joint slid back into its socket.

The level of aches decreased significantly, the throbs becoming mild and dull, though her now movable fingers and arm still remained quite numb.

"Thanks..." Yang exhaled, rising from the ground, being careful not to be too mobile. Blake merely nodded weakly, releasing the device from her bared teeth. It clattered onto the stone floor as a highly unfocused writer failed to catch it. The blonde frowned worriedly. With no sting of a dislocated shoulder to distract her, Yang was able to observe the girl much more attentively.

"You don't look so good." To be more frank, this statement didn't even begin to cover how terrible Blake appeared.

"That's what a girl wants to hear." As if it was second nature to her, Blake still managed to retort back wittily. Ignoring the joke, Yang scrambled forward, migrating the route of the flash, using it to inspect the black-haired girl from a close proximity. The girl seemed too dazed to mind.

Blood was streaming down, in larger gushes, more than it seemed to be doing so before. There was a largely stretched cut near the corner left side of the girl's face, leaving a trail of red from the top of her eyebrow to her chin.

"Oh no... No, no, no... You're losing a lot of blood!" The girl closed her eyes in reply, tightening them in signs of discomfort from the cutting panic in the blonde's voice.

"Damn it! I-I don't know what to do, Blake. What do I do?" She was used to tending to injuries, but they were generally minor cuts and sprained muscles leftover from crazy stunts she pulled in the past. This was different. It was an opened flesh wound. An injury to the head to top it all off.

"It's fine. I'm fine..."

"You are not _fine!_ " Way to keep the patient calm Yang, she chastised herself.

There was a grunt of resigned acceptance after which the girl mumbled in an undertone, "Right, right... I'm not fine. Sorry...force of habit..."

The out of context apology did not help the blonde out with her nerves. "How do you feel?"

"Headache," the girl responded thickly.

"Okay, I think you should lie down. No, wait... Pressure on the wound, we need to put pressure on the wound." Yang searched around the setting. "Is that your backpack over there?"

"...Yes... though I left most of my things at the station..." The girl muttered in a disgruntled manner.

Yang nodded as she got up to her feet and moved to collect it. She had left her huge hiking gear at the station near the opening of the canyon as well, as she decided that carrying around all of their sleeping gear on a four hour long hiking trail was moronic. After all, she had planned on running to catch up with the travel writer, a strange premonition informing her that something terrible was going to happen. And it had.

She vaguely remembered Blake racing across the raging pathway, jumping into the center of danger in order to save...her. That fact hit Yang harder than any piece of rock she could have bumped into along the way.

Panic submerged as newly found bravery surfaced forward. Thankfully, the blonde still had a couple of her traveling items with her too; a brown belt satchel still remained strapped over waist. Holding up the considerably lighter backpack in her hands, Yang scurried back to Blake's side. Even with their eyes adjusted to the darkness, she still needed a clearer view.

"Do you think you can get up?" The blonde asked as she offered the girl a hand.

"...I bumped my head, not my leg."

"You know, at times like these, it's okay to just say yes." Yang grumbled, but she still held Blake up in her arms, supporting the girl on her good shoulder. They moved slowly towards the top opening of the cavern. Having taken her first steps since the fall, Yang felt that her ankle was slightly sprained, but she couldn't let that bother her now.

"All right..." Yang slowly laid Blake down on. Blake hissed in pain as the back of her head met solid matter. "Down we go."

Hot rays of the sun shone upon them, incomparably better than the small bulb of artificial lighting. Preparing herself, the blonde drew in closer to Blake. Blood continued to pour down from the wound. Fortunately, there were no stray particles embedded inside, nor were there any parts of the skull showing. Yang didn't think even her strong stomach could handle a sight like that.

Feeling the need to be faster, she ripped both bags open and emptied them of their contents. Objects scattered onto the ground in a mess and the blonde pulled them together, scanning them instantly: a compass, an insulating layer of clothing, a quick-dry towel, a packet of beef jerky, a couple of power bars, a multi-tool knife, a neon colored tumbler, and a water bottle that hadn't been opened yet.

Yang was finally grateful for her father sending her to that first-aid class, back when Ruby was younger and her clumsiness made her prone to more accidents. Granted, that was years ago, but she still remembered the basics. A laceration on the forehead tended to bleed more than other wounds. She couldn't tell how deep the cut was but she still had to stop the further loss of blood.

"I'm going to lift you a bit... Let me..." Her tense fingers tried not to be too powerful as Yang began elevating the wound. The girl moaned, but didn't make any other signals of discomfort as the blonde managed to gently place the girl's head on the sides of her crossed legs. "There..."

Grabbing the unfolded fabric near her, she quickly placed it over the girl's injury and applied an appropriate amount of pressure onto it. Blotches of red seeped through cotton white. She felt the sticky wet textile underneath her fingers. With a hitched breath, Yang folded the rest of the dry towel over the dampening fabric.

"Geez, I'm so sorry Blake..." Yang whispered in guilt. "I should have never followed you out. You wouldn't be hurt if it wasn't for me."

"No...I'm glad you came," said Blake softly. "You made me realize...I was being stupid..."

This sounded quite hard to believe. Blake lying in her arms seemed like the most intelligible person she'd ever met; sharing prizes with Weiss no-nonsense Schnee and Pyrrha think-rationally Nikos.

"Adam."

Yang had to flip around, checking around her and then back at Blake, trying to make sense of who Blake was addressing. Without a doubt, those beautiful amber eyes were gazing directly at her.

"Uh... I'm Yang." The blonde gulped, praying that the girl hadn't sustained any brain damage.

Blake almost appeared to be smirking at her words. "...I know that."

"Oh, then, uh...is he...is he here again?" She asked rather nervously.

"No," she winced unexpectedly. "I want to talk about him."

"You...want to talk about it?" She failed to hide the tone of incredulity in her voice. This girl, who had been consistently shrouding herself in a mushroom cloud of mystery and secrecy, suddenly wanted to have a share your feelings hour? Stumped, the blonde asked, "W-Why...?"

"Because...I need to get it off my chest."

"I'm forcing you to tell me, aren't I?" Yang hastily apologized. "Because if I am, I'm really sorry. I just..."

"You're not." Her answer was unequivocal. "I want to."

"...Well...if you're going to tell me about him, at least let me go first." The girl's brow furrowed in confusion, prompting the blonde to offer clarification. "It wasn't right for me to ask you to share something you obviously didn't want to talk about... So, I'm going to share something about myself too. It's only fair."

Mildly intrigued lashes batted at her. And consenting to the interesting proposition, Blake heeded silent.

"...When I was a kid, my mom passed away." That was probably the strongest, bluntest way for a child to phrase the death of his or her parent. But Yang had grieved in the past, and this was something she wanted to share; something that would create at least the tiniest bridge of understanding between the two of them. "My sister was too young to understand but I was old enough to know that...she was never coming back. My dad shut down afterwards. And back then...I thought it was because he loved her so much. But later, I realized...it wasn't that simple. That wasn't the first time he had lost someone he loved. The first time...was with my birth mom."

Blake gawked up at the blonde, perceiving the implication of the statement.

"He told me years later that she left him...not too long after I was born." The blonde felt her throat run a bit dry. "I tried not to act too bothered about it. But it stuck with me, you know? Not knowing...entirely where I came from."

"I spent a lot of time obsessing over it actually...but I don't want to get into that right now." Yang chuckled with ill humor as intent amber eyes chose not to leave her. "What I want to say is... At the time, instead of hiding behind smiles and jokes, if I told someone...Ruby, my dad, anyone...I wouldn't have felt so...alone."

"I guess that's one of the reasons I wanted you to share so much..." She confessed. "You reminded me of...me. And how...lonely I felt then."

Lilac irises peered down at the patient, who had grown increasingly pasty throughout the telling of the story. Contrasting from the overall blanch complexion she wore, penetrating gold seized hold of her, tighter than it had ever done so on the walk here.

"...I've known Adam ever since I was little." It was Blake's turn to reciprocate. "He was there for me when I started school. He was there...when my parents passed away. He was there when I was lonely. He was...my everything."

"...Did you love him?" Blake let out an unexpected gasp of pain and Yang realized that unconsciously her fingers were dabbing onto the towel stronger than before.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" Yang panicked, and in the split second, the cloth removed itself by a quarter of an inch, leading to a fresh new trickle of blood overlapping the drying red patches. "You- You're still bleeding..."

"...I think a part of me thought I loved him... But I was mistaking my dependence on him for love." Blake's voice continued nonetheless, sounding much more strained than it had been when she initiated the conversation. "When I became an adult, I knew what he had meant to me all along. He was...an older brother I never had."

"...when he was gone..." It was getting more and more hard to listen, her breaths becoming uneven and her voice diminishing in volume. "...was this empty hole he left behind..."

"Blake...?" Yang tried to stop her, craning her neck closer, watching the girl's unnatural pallor in agonizing worry.

"...I was...wasn't letting him go... But I can do it now... I will... He can move on with his life." Blake's voice was definitely growing fainter by the second. Respiring with difficulty, she appeared to be dwindling towards the verge of unconsciousness.

"No, don't... Don't close your eyes. Stay with me." Yang took her free arm and curved it around Blake's head, pressing two fingers against her neck, locating a rapid pulse. Swearing, she lowered her touch, settling on top of the girl's right shoulder, wanting to be able to shake the sleep away if she could. "I'll... I'll sing that beer song if you don't!"

"...Are you threatening me?" Blake murmured.

"I mean..." The blonde mentally smacked herself. "I _won't_ sing that beer song if you stay awake."

"Better," slurred Blake. "Better... Yang... You're a good person..."

"Oh god... You're delirious."

"No." An undeniable smile played on the girl's pale lips. "You really are..."

"Okay, Blake, okay, stay with me. You're going to be just fine. Blake...? Blake!"

* * *

She was losing her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Never in her life did Yang feel so helpless before. Every fiber of her being was being rendered useless, consumed by such bitter worry and fear.

"Is anybody there?" She bellowed at the top of her lungs. "We need help!"

This trip wasn't meant to turn out this way. It had been an impulsive fun escape, another one of those meaningless side routes Yang had decided to take in life, with the company of her best friend who wanted to drive her troubles away. But she was alone in a cavern, with sunlight and freedom so close yet so far from her face, a girl lay limp in her arms, fighting a battle between life and death.

Two days. That was all it had taken. It took her two weeks to decide if she wanted to attend college or not. It took her two months, after graduating, to realize she had absolutely no clue what she wanted to do with her life.

Yet it had only taken her two days to know that she was in love. Like a scene from a romance movie, the girl had appeared in front of her. By complete chance and dumb luck, the traveler had joined them on a journey.

And for heaven's sake, if Blake was anything like her past crushes or flings, things would have gone a lot more smoothly. But she wasn't. She was unique. Unfathomable and unattainable. Just once, just for once in her life, when her heart pounded and her stomach finally understood the meaning of fluttering butterflies, it was the universe's decision to send her the largest "screw you" message.

"Are you kidding me?" Yang found herself shouting up at the ironically clear sky. "Are you fucking kidding me? Come on!"

This was a test. It was life trying to test her sincerity, to make her see if what she was beginning to feel inside was anything real. And the blonde didn't have to think twice about it. She was falling in love with this girl.

In her arms, Blake was trembling slightly. The color amber flickered on and off and Blake was mumbling something incoherent. The blonde took comfort in the fact that the girl was still breathing. There was hope. There was still hope.

"You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine." All was quiet as the blonde endlessly repeated the same phrase, believing that if she said it enough, it would come true. And it was then did she hear an unidentifiable whopping noise in the distance. Was she hallucinating? Or was there something outside?

She looked up at the raining daylight. A new sense of determination washed over her. This had to work. It had to. There was nothing else she could do. Please.

"Blake...? I think I heard something..." Despite the lack of verbal response, Yang willed herself to pretend as if the girl could hear her. "I'm going to go check, okay? So...I need to put you down again. Do you understand me? I'm going to put you down on the ground."

She took the girl's cold hand and placed it on top of the pressurizing cloth. "Blake, I need you to hold onto this. Listen to me. You need to keep pressing on this, all right? Blake?"

There was a feeble sign of movement from underneath her. Thin fingers grabbed onto the left corner of the towel and when the blonde removed her hand from it slowly, she found solace that Blake's hand remained on the same spot.

After moving Blake's head away, Yang got back up on her cramped legs, surveying the opening they had fallen through. The height was enough for her to dislocate a joint. But with luck, she was confident that she would be able to climb over it.

Her hands traced the wall linings; they were bumpy with sufficient amount of cracks and holes. With enough endeavoring, it looked feasible. Her fingers gripped onto the rocks. Starting from the bottom, she raised one foot, and the other, meeting two stable wedges.

Thirty centimeters of elevation, but at least she was no longer touching the ground. Breathing heavily, she outreached her hand into a deeper groove above her head. She heaved herself up and tried to find her footing. But her shoes skidded off a slippery indentation and the blonde fell off, back onto the hard stone.

"Shit!" Yang swore as she felt a greater throbbing in her stimulated foot. Ignoring it, she would try again.

The space between her fingernail and skin had ripped, causing a small bleeding tear. But she had to finish what she started. Getting up again, she tried taking a different approach than before. She stuck closely to the wall, looking down and carefully choosing the niche her right foot would fit into. This was like indoor rock climbing, she told herself. She was rock climbing. Picturing the grooves as if they were popping out like artificial handholds and footholds, Yang moved upwards.

After the half-point mark, her body realized how drained it was from the fall. But like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert, her rough fingers found the flat surface of the top, the top curves of the edge.

Taking a moment, she glanced back over her shoulder. Yang saw that Blake was still in the exact same position as last time; her chest was rising and falling inconspicuously. Quickly turning back to the wall, the blonde mustered all of her remaining strength and shot her feet up. By the final pitch of effort, fatigue had crept onto her, but she could hardly care. She wouldn't mind dropping dead in the next sixty seconds, so long as she made it outside beforehand and someone would find their location. Fingers crawled forward until half of her left arm was sitting on top of freshly heated earth. With a way to properly sustain her weight, she propelled herself up the slope until her stomach was scraping against rugged edges.

Yang's head searched around her and found that their immediate vicinity was surrounded by heaps of rocks and boulders. Somehow, Yang was now glad that they had fallen into that cavern; otherwise they would have been crushed by the final wave of debris. The trail that they had been walking on an hour ago was nearly gone, as the whole face of the canyon had become slightly deformed.

Her ears picked up the strange noise again. They were big metal wings slicing into the air. A rush of wind zoomed past her as a thunderous flying vehicle roared overhead.

"There she is! Sir, we found her!" It took a second before the shocked blonde could properly register that they had been found. Crawling out from the mouth of the cavern, Yang waved her arms furiously at a small group of people heading down a tapering pathway from the other side of the road.

"Over here!" She croaked. At her calls, a group of paramedics approached her. Yang refused them to inspect her first, directing them towards the patient with a much more life threatening injury. The professionals lowered themselves inside the narrow opening, carrying sturdy ropes and other first-aid equipment. The blonde tried to go down along with them but was stopped by a butch officer, who warned her to stay back. With no intention of complying, Yang was about to charge right on forward, but she was pulled back by a tight grasp over her wrist. Suddenly, she found herself being pulled into a firm squeeze.

"Yang! You're alive... Thank god, you're alive." The blonde didn't even need to look at the strands of scarlet hair to discern who it was.

"What happened? We came as soon as we heard the rock fall. And your- You're hurt!"Green eyes widened in horror after the redhead ended the embrace, wanting to gain a better look at her friend. Yang finally took a genuine glance at her own figure and realized that the front of her clothes was dressed with thick clots of blood. Her stomach plummeted another several meters.

"N-No... This isn't mine," the blonde answered shakily and was too afraid to meet the eyes of a drawing photographer. She didn't have to, however, as Jaune wasn't staring at the blonde, but at the hole from which an unconscious young woman was being lifted out on a rescue gurney. Blake was being hauled towards a helicopter that had to hover meters away from their location, unable to find any stable ground to land at. Jaune sprinted after the medics, his face just as pale as Blake's bloodless skin.

"She's my friend! _She's my friend!_ " He shouted at the rescue team, looking enraged at their attempts to calm him down. The man defiantly climbed into the helicopter, not leaving Blake's side as well as completely forgetting the fact that he would feel almost as ill and dizzy while traveling inside of it.

"Miss? We're going to get you to a hospital too." A man who had secured the straps over Blake's transporter told Yang after observing her shabby conditions. "Can you walk?"

"She's going to be fine, Yang." Pyrrha forcefully pulled her weak friend towards the helicopter, clasping her hand over the blonde's sweaty palm.

"Yeah, yeah, she is..." She had to be.


	12. Wandered Ancient Lands (Part 7)

The last piece of memory she had held onto was a blur. She had been waning back and forth, a voice of a greatly agitated blonde becoming dimmer, words sounding faded like she was speaking from afar.

Then pain intensified for a split second and everything had changed.

By this point, the sequence that played during her unconscious state had been repeating for far too long. The tortuous pattern of death and suffering, imprinted so deeply that it was bizarre to experience such peace and serenity during her sleep. Yet this had to be a dream. For when Blake opened her eyes, she wasn't in the cavern. Pure solid white had swallowed her whole. It appeared as if she had somehow been transferred onto an unmarked canvas, blank as her current train of thought. Sitting up slowly, she realized that her aching headache was gone. All traces of blood, dirt, and sweat had been swept away from her clothes and skin, leaving her in comfortably pristine conditions.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon," a voice drawled from her right. She didn't even jump this time. After all, if this was her dream, it wouldn't be right if he wasn't present.

"...Am I dead?" She asked Adam, who was sitting next to her with one knee up in the air.

"That depends on how you want it to be," he answered rather mysteriously, an inscrutable expression planted onto his face.

Blake considered this for a moment, and how implausible it seemed. Very recently, she had dropped off a shallow cliff and cut opened her forehead. Additional to that, she had woken up in a strange environment with a man who had been dead for several months by her side. Yes, the situation didn't seem all that favorable to her. With the order in which the events had unfolded, Blake believed it was highly unlikely that there was any other alternative than death. But the way he had said it, he sounded so certain.

"We're always given choices, Blake. And this time, you get to be the one to pick. I won't take that away from you again." His eyes kept an unwavering grip on her, sincerity dripping with each syllable. "You can either choose to stay here with me..."

"...Or... You can go back." He lifted his right arm and directed her attention towards an anomalous object existing to their left. In stark contrast to the white surroundings, there stood a solid door; its entire features were so pitch black that Blake could hardly make out the shape of the handle from the door frame.

"Where is... Where are we?" Blake found herself asking, despite the obvious answer that was flashing inside her brain.

"Let's just say... We're in a dream." His vague lie only confirmed her conjectures. She was at the bridge of death. And how strange was it that she felt tranquil.

If it had been two days ago, she wouldn't need a second to reach a decision. It was clear what she would have done. Her past self would not have contemplated over the meaning behind Adam's words. She would have considered herself lucky, fortunate enough that she could pass onto another life with her lost brother by her side.

Now, it wasn't so simple.

In the course of two days, she had realized what taking the previous option would do. It would reap catastrophic results, not for herself, but for everyone else. Adam had expressed it himself, that he felt responsible for leaving her behind in a pit of abandonment and loneliness. What would he think if she decided that she wanted to give up her life to be with him? How greedy of her would it be to want that? Would the guilt and anger change the entire foundation of their relationship? Yes. Yes, it would. She had no doubts about that.

And then there was Jaune: the sole individual in her life who still mattered and, concurrently, was still breathing. Though caring and understanding as he was, to some extent, Blake was sure that he wouldn't be as forgiving as he had been in the past if he ever found out that she had, of her own accord, taken the easier exit.

Blake thought about it. And finally, as the lingering face of a concerned blonde itched its way back into her mind, there was nothing left to mull over.

"...I can't stay here with you," she decided, the tone of steady resolve returning to her voice after months of having been led astray. And for the first time in weeks, she knew that she had arrived at the right conclusion.

"Good. I was going to smack you over the head if you said otherwise." At the insinuation, she sent him a frank glare, which he swiftly returned with a pleased smile. "You're going to be just fine, Blake."

And he stared at her, smiling forlornly, as if it was his turn to watch her disappear. But she remained sitting, staying perfectly still as she watched him, making Adam realize that Blake wasn't preparing for a farewell.

"I can't stay...but I'm not ready to leave yet," explained Blake, as her gaze pierced into him. Needless to say, by this point in their lives, words weren't mandatory for communication. One look at her searching gold irises and Adam found what it was that was making Blake hang on.

"So you have some questions for me then," he said readily. "Go ahead and ask."

"Will you answer them now?" She quirked an eyebrow, accusing him of having been the most unclear plot device a story can offer so far.

He gently teased her with a knowing smile. "I will."

Not even knowing where to begin, Blake made up her mind to start with the most recent events that were bothering her. "Back at the canyon... You realized what was happening before I could...which means that you aren't just a creation of my mind. You are...real."

"Does it matter?" He spoke softly. "I have always been real to you."

Taking in a steady breath, she augmented her inquiry. "Then what you said by the cliff. All of that was true as well?"

There was visible hesitation in the man's stance. In a disinclined fashion, Adam nodded rather solemnly towards the girl.

"So... it _was_ me all along." Feline eyes hardened onto him. "I was the one keeping you here."

"For the most part... Yes." He phrased carefully, tiptoeing away from both extremes. The girl grunted, turning her head away from him in fresh frustration and guilt.

"I've been selfish," Blake stated sullenly as her fears were ultimately confirmed. "I forced you to stay with me...so that...that I could keep a piece of you for myself. Deep down, no matter how insane I thought I was becoming, I guess I wanted you by my side."

"It wasn't just you. I came back for you too, Blake. Don't forget that. For the same reason you were able to see me, I couldn't let you go." He heaved, putting on a comforting smile for the both of them. "I can now. Because I know you'll be okay. Because you're finally dealing with what happened."

"But I _haven't_ done anything about it!" She claimed, with dismay evident in her appearance. "I've been... All I've been doing is the exact opposite of that. Listening to you, going back to that canyon... It was a way for me to deny that I was being foolish, trying to convince myself that I was being independent and strong...that I was coping with it properly... When in reality, I was... I was just running away."

"Then you stopped." He pointed a long finger at her in a non-rude fashion. "You realized that there's nothing wrong with admitting that you need help. So you let others in. And with your friends there for you, with people to rely on, you _know_ you can let me go now."

Blake brooded, and even before reaching a solid ending for herself, she knew he was right. And that meant that there was only one thing left to say. "I'm sorry that I couldn't save you."

"Because _I_ chose to save _you_ ," he countered.

A pensive look filled the amber pools of her eyes. "I couldn't catch you."

"But you caught _her_."

This steered the conversation in a whole new direction as a sulky Blake stared up at the man questioningly. "...Why did I do that?"

It was his turn to look confused. "...Are you asking me?"

"I don't know why I did what I did... I... I'm not like you, Adam. I would never pull a stunt as crazy as that in a million years..." Blake paused, her brows knitting together as she tried to produce a logical explanation for her actions. "Maybe my brain relapsed to that moment with you...and my body reacted without thinking."

"I don't know... You risked your life to save her." He shrugged, easily countering the young woman's thoughts with his subsequent banter. "Don't tell me that doesn't mean something."

Blake seemed doubtful. "It can't. It shouldn't."

"...Maybe you didn't want to lose her," Adam suggested gently. "Maybe your heart felt something your brain never did."

"I've only known her for two days." Blake cringed. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Why does everything have to make sense for you to accept it?" The man laughed in amazement at her proficiency in denial. "Does it make sense that you're sitting here, talking to me? Does it make sense that you were able to see me when nobody else could? No. None of what happened makes any sense. So stop trying to make sense out of life, because life will never make sense, okay?"

The tenacious skeptic bit back a scoff. "Yes, Adam. I understand what you're trying to say. We'll call that theory number two."

"Just give it some thought," he advised playfully.

"There is nothing to think about," Blake commented, rolling her eyes in plain view. "The trip is over. We're probably never going to see each other again."

"Hmm... Well... As you and I both know, some people...you can't just cut them out of your life." Adam gazed up at the monochrome sky. She followed his gesture, immersing herself in the quietude the spectrum of white brought her.

And as if the domain around them judged that this was the perfect way for their heart-to-heart to end, the surfaces of the seemingly boundless walls and ceilings began to crack, revealing the shade of coal underneath.

"It looks like we're out of time." It was no longer a lament. They sat there, with unfitting peace, as they watched the sphere around them fracture; chipping away in a fragile fashion like the shell of an egg being removed, picked off piece by piece by meticulous fingers, and then disintegrating into evanescent twinkles of silver.

Concurrently, the two stood up from the ground when half of the universe had been crumbled away into shadows.

Blake was pleasantly surprised when Adam reached out to pull her along, leading her towards the concrete door; she felt the familiar warmth of his touch make contact with her hand.

"It's time for you to go now," Adam stated as they slowed down in front of the closed portal.

"...Okay," Blake replied faintly. She was well aware that this moment was unavoidable. And she wanted to face it with upfront bravery while it lasted. "This is...goodbye... Isn't it?"

"Hey." Adam turned her body towards him with his two hands, prodding her to look up and meet his maroon eyes. "I will always be there for you, Blake. Whenever you need me. Remember that."

And he pulled her into a soul nurturing embrace, allowing her cheeks to rest against his broad shoulders as his secure arms strapped themselves around her, exactly like how they used to. His clothes still smelt like the same old laundry detergent he always used. The pungent scent of cologne he consistently wore, despite her avid wishes against it, remained along the lines of his neck. He smelled like home. The home she had outgrown and would have to leave behind, but would continue to treasure until the end of time.

"I'll miss you." She whispered into the lining of his coat.

"I'll see you again..." They broke apart as he leaned to plant a friendly kiss on her forehead. "...in your dreams."

And he began to fade, the ghost of his smile never diminishing as he grew more and more translucent. She did not cry this time. Not even as the tiniest physical traces of Adam vanished before her and she was left alone in a world that was now almost empty. She felt him deep within herself, resting as an intricate part of her own soul.

In an intrepid motion, her hand pulled the handle and opened the door. The entry to the passage seemed to be blockaded by a thick, dark matter.

There was a subtle howl of wind coming from behind it, audible now as the crackling sounds above her head had ceased. The area extended onward, absorbing any form of lingering white in its void of no color.

Nervously, she reached her hand out and grabbed at the air through the frame. Her fingers went through an unpleasant substance, a highly viscous mixture of liquid that seemed to add a vast amount of weight on any object it took in. A small lump materialized in her throat. Blake didn't think it would be as easy as walking through a door anyway. She was at the cross roads, fighting to escape her own form of purgatory, to resurface back to life. It wouldn't be so simple.

Soon her whole arm was being towed down, and then her other arm. Her complete body soaked inside the composition with the terrible feeling of compression by a pressurizing force of a two-ton truck.

There was a horrible sensation of choking as lungs were depleted of oxygen. Holding onto a speck of grit and intent, she felt her consciousness dull.

* * *

A strong chemical smell awoke her – a clean, antiseptic scent. It was a bit nauseating at first, the mixture of disinfectant and medicine in the air. Her ears caught onto a steady rhythmic beeping from her side. And in the distance were muffled voices, footsteps echoing down a marble corridor.

It required great effort for Blake to open her eyes. And when she did, nothing but confusion came to her as she found herself lying down on a hospital bed. Hygienic, white walls surrounded her in a small enclosed room. An I.V. bottle with a large plastic bag, filled with reddish liquid, was attached to several medical instruments, the end of which led down to her own wrist.

She was back. The vibrant qualities of the room, affecting all of her five senses, made her wonder if the surreal landscape she had left behind ever truly existed.

Trying to sit up was a mistake, Blake realized. She was met with a rapid attack of vertigo. This, she suspected, was from the loss of blood more so than anything else. Deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble, Blake reluctantly forced her lead-like head back onto the surface of a fluffy pillow. Breathing heavily, a second passed by, and the slightly disoriented patient noticed that she was not left unattended.

A man was lying down next to the bed, half of his upper body leaning against the sheets of the mattress, his arms crossed and his face buried between them. Even so, his mustard yellow hair made it so easy for Blake to distinguish him.

"...Jaune?" She called out to him, finding that her voice sounded somewhat rough and grating.

He stirred and it took a moment for him to rise. He smacked his lips together as if he was waking up from a bizarre dream. He turned to the origin of the sound and blue eyes widened.

"Blake!" He leapt up from his chair, a combined spirit of pure ecstasy and worry. "You're awake! How do you feel? Do you remember what happened? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"...What...?" A dull throbbing echoed from the base of her head, overwhelmed by the ferocious energy in her friend, who was stretching out all five of his fingers minus the thumb.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" He repeated urgently, becoming more worked up due to the lack of an immediate reply.

"...Four."

"Okay, good." He seemed to visibly relax at the correct response. "I swear to god, Blake. If you ever say you're going hiking again...I'm getting you in a straightjacket."

"Nice to see you too, Jaune..." said Blake weakly, feeling appreciative of the man's concerns for her health. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours. You...You almost gave me a heart attack." The photographer sighed, collapsing back into his seat, completely careworn. "When we first saw you...you were covered in blood."

Jaune shuddered at the nightmarish memory, trying his best to bypass it. "The doctor said that it was a miracle you were found so soon... Otherwise...you wouldn't have... You know..."

He fell silent.

"Jaune... It's okay. I'm fine." Blake breathed airily. And in effort to show it, she forced her body upwards, biting in a lengthy moan, as she managed to sit up. "See? I feel...fine."

The photographer gave Blake a disbelieving stare. "Suddenly having nine stitches and losing more than two pints of blood constitutes as fine?"

She pursed her lips in annoyance. "Well, I wasn't being literal."

"You _do_ look a lot better than before." He broke out into a persuaded grin and informed the rest of the story to her in a hurry. "Still... You bumped your head pretty hard. The doctors said you have a level two concussion and that you might be dizzy for a while, but it's nothing too serious."

"...explains the headache..." Blake inwardly groaned.

"They did say that they want to run more tests. Just in case!" He added at the look of mild anxiety on the girl's face. "And they want to keep you here for another twenty four hours."

"...What about Yang?" Blake asked the question that was constantly prickling at her from the corner of her mind. "Is she okay?"

"Oh, she's fine. No life threatening injuries. You should have seen her a few hours ago though. She was almost as hysterical as me." He laughed, clearly oblivious to the impact the information was having on the young woman. "Pyrrha managed to calm her down only after the doctors said you were out of danger."

Blake simply nodded along as she drank it all in. Jaune raised his eyebrows by a mere fraction, finding a peculiar amount of interest glistening in Blake's amber orbs at his recounting. Smirking slightly, he went on. "She never left your side. Pyrrha had to wrestle her out of here to get some food a couple of minutes ago. Should I...go get her?"

"No... You don't have to do that." Blake replied in an unruffled manner. The photographer was carefully observing his friend's face for any signs of change. Though the travel writer was a master at concealing her emotions when she wanted to, having been around her long enough, Jaune knew exactly what her expression of fake indifference looked like.

"Are you sure?" He nudged her even harder. "I can give you guys some time to talk about...stuff? Plus, it would give me a chance to talk to Pyrrha."

Blake's ears perked up as she caught a form of giddy anticipation in his last comment. "Why would you want to talk to Pyrrha?"

"Uh... No reason!" He froze, realizing his own blunder. But at the girl's scrutinizing glares, he gave in rather quickly. "All right... All right... Well, to be honest... Do you think it would be too crazy of me to ask her out on a date?"

The man's earnest countenance indicated that he was not joking about this. He wanted a truthful answer. Blake blinked at him, sincerely surprised that he was considering asking out the professional tennis player. This was not because the idea was too ludicrous; after all, the photographer wasn't half bad to look at. Blake was merely shocked that she had not noticed until now.

Jaune was usually shifty and tried excessively hard to appear confident around the girls he was interested in. Blake thought back on the trip and tried to remember such cases that would exemplify a crush. However, Blake felt enormously guilty as she became aware of the fact that she had not been paying her friend any attention throughout the whole trip. While he had been so attentive of her feelings, she had been so ignorant of his.

Wishing to correct her mistakes, Blake exhaled, then looked straight into his waiting blue eyes. "Were you planning on doing it through a song?"

"...No?"

"Then it wouldn't be too crazy." She flashed him a playful smirk, this time, one that was not simply a leftover fragment from her former self.

He reacted immediately to the lively gesture, bringing into the conversation his own sportive smile. "Any ideas on how I should do it then?"

"Stay clear of the 'I'm a natural blond' line and you'll be fine." He emitted a low growl, glowering at her with poised daggers for eyes. She feigned an innocent look of a lamb at him.

"I'm serious!" He retorted in a huff. "And that is a _great_ line."

"It's really, really not." Blake rolled her eyes before continuing in a gentle undertone. "Trust me, Jaune. No weird schemes or pick-up lines. Just be yourself. Be honest."

He mulled over this for a prolonged minute. Then he nodded his head in approval and bounded back up to his feet.

"I'll go talk to her then," proclaimed Jaune as he walked over to the door and opened it. With his hand still placed over the handle, he paused, and looked back over his shoulder with an important afterthought. "It's the same for you too, okay Blake?"

"You- What are you talking about?"

He smiled mischievously at her flustered voice.

"It's good to have you back." He stated, and the door closed shut. And the manner in which he had said this gave Blake the impression that he wasn't exactly referring to today's accident.

* * *

The moment Jaune left the room, he searched around the halls in order to track the blonde and her red-haired companion. It took several minutes until he spotted them at the other side of the building.

"She's awake! Blake's awake!" Jaune started to shout at them, but after receiving a very warning glare from a nearby nurse, he lowered his volume as he approached the duo.

Yang, who had begrudgingly agreed to grabbing some coffee from a hospital vending machine with her friend, passed the drinks into the photographer's hands and skyrocketed into Blake's room without another word.

"We should probably give them a bit of privacy." The red-haired athlete winked.

"Right. Here you go." Jaune chuckled as he gave one of the steaming paper cups to Pyrrha. "This sure has been one heck of a journey, huh?"

"I never know what to expect when I spend time with Yang. But this is a far stretch of adventure, even for her." The redhead joked mildly, being able to laugh about it since the urgency of the situation had passed. They walked slowly, moving to a less crowded area of the hospital, careful not to catch any attention from potential tennis fans.

"Yeah... My friend gives me a heart attack once in a while too, and she's supposed to be the smart one." His fingers trailed nervously across his brimming cup of coffee. "So... Now that the trip's over... Do you have to start training again?"

"I'll be receiving some treatment for my injury." Pyrrha grinned. "But nothing too demanding for another few weeks."

"That's good..." He murmured as they found an empty corridor, and he chose the nearby wall to be his leaning post.

"I thought a lot about what you said. That night by the campfire." She smiled as she faced him. "And you were right."

"Right about...what?" He stared at her blankly.

"...About needing to find something you want to do for yourself." The photographer kept a close eye on her, waiting for the redhead to finish another sip before rolling on.

"Do you know why Yang is such a great friend to have around?" He had some guesses, but observing that this was a question the girl wanted to answer for herself, he shook his head in response. "It's because she reminds me life's too short to waste. She doesn't always choose the extreme way of proving it...like today... But most of what she does is usually based off of that motto."

He nodded along. "She does make that pretty obvious."

"So I'm going to do what you said I should do. Whether I find that with tennis...or with something else." Pyrrha confessed to him. "If not... I'm afraid I'll wake up one day and realize that I've lived my life...full of regret."

Jaune gawked at the scarlet-haired beauty breathing beside him. At the canyons, he had been stunned to see that behind the exterior of a strong, record-breaking athlete, there was an insecure young woman hiding underneath. But now, there were no more signs of weaknesses or uncertainties to extinguish. She stood before him, in such awe-inspiring resolution, that she captivated him like the sun would a sunflower.

"So..." To be polite, she asked him in turn, "Will you be...working as well?"

"Uh... Oh, yeah. Uh huh!" He answered as her question broke him out of his reverie. "I'll be submitting some of the shots I took on this trip. Hoping some of the big publishing companies will want them."

"I'm sure they will." She flattered him generously. "Your photos are great."

"Thanks," he mumbled, a bit abashed by the sincerity of the girl's compliments. "And I've been meaning to ask... You know that photo I took of you...at the canyon?"

"Yes...?" She seemed to be thinking lightly about the matter. "Did you want my permission to print it?"

"No. I don't think I'm going to send that one over." He respired deeply, as if he was preparing to run a ten kilometer marathon. "But I do like it...a lot. It's one of my best pieces actually, and it would be a complete waste for me to just keep it around in my camera."

"What are you saying, Jaune?" An amused glimmer appeared in her green orbs.

"I'm saying, you know, if you want it... It's yours." He rambled, scuffling the back of his shoes on the ground as he tried to sound cool. "I'm not saying it's _that_ good or anything! But if you wanted it...uh... If you give me your email address or something, I'll send it over."

Sincerity was pouring out of him, in every possible shape or form. Pyrrha glanced up at his staggering azure eyes and identified the feature about him that had been so appealing to her from the start.

There were no barriers present in the great ocean blue.

The color of it all, so inviting and welcoming, that she couldn't help but find herself being ushered in.

"...I'd like that."

* * *

Brightened lilac eyes had jolted into the room. Blake noticed, with relief, that Yang did not appear too seriously injured as Jaune had testified: her right arm was in a sling and she was limping a bit, but otherwise everything else about her physique could be established as fine.

Yang looked like she had much to say. However, before the blonde could get a word in, the moment was interrupted by the doctor's appearance. The man gave Blake detailed results of the tests they scanned of her brain, reporting that they didn't find any permanent brain injuries, but they wanted her to stay hospitalized for the time being. He then asked Blake a series of questions, testing her memory and ability to recollect information and concentrate on menial tasks.

From the corner of her eye, Blake watched – strangely entertained by the increasingly antsy expression forming on the blonde's visage.

Finally, when the doctor left for her to get some rest, Yang plopped herself down on the seat next to her and simply stared at her for a good five minutes.

"...Are you okay?" Blake offered as a start.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Yang breezed past her own injuries, not batting a single eyelash. "Just some minor cuts and a sprained ankle."

"...Well, do you mind telling me what happened?" Blake tried to loosen the mood with her wit. "I heard you were making quite a scene outside."

"Jaune told you, didn't he?" The blonde chuckled, though not with humor. It sounded empty, almost as if the girl's brain was wrapped around such a difficult problem that she forgot what a proper laugh is supposed to sound like.

"Yang... What is it?" Blake put forward nervously, concern lacing her tone.

Yang seemed to steady herself, closing her eyes then opening them again before being able to say what she had wanted to say. When Blake peered into the violet ponds, she was startled to see saw such a raw emotion brewing inside of them.

"You scared the hell out of me, that's what happened" was the evidently distraught answer. "I...I thought you were going to die."

"I thought you said I was going to be fine?" Blake challenged with a purposefully playful twinkle in her golden irises.

"I'm not a doctor! Of course I didn't know that!" The blonde snapped. A slight quivering reverberated down her arms. "It felt like ages! Holding you there...waiting for..."

The blonde trembled, refusing to let her mind revisit their frightening time spent in the cavern. Worried amber eyes trailed down the blonde and caught the sight of pale hands that were gripping onto the sheets of the bed extremely tightly. Almost every inch of skin had been bundled up in bandages.

"...What happened to your hands?" asked Blake quietly.

"Oh... I...uh...I got scratched." Blake wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"By...some rocks..." This provided a little more insight.

"As I was climbing up a wall...of the cave." And the blonde had hit a home run. Realization dawned upon Blake as she understood how they were able to be rescued so quickly. It hadn't been a coincidence nor a miracle. It had been a direct result of the blonde in front of her. Blake recollected that the cavern they had fallen into was at least twice the average man's height. Remembering that, and seeing the bound wounds, sparked a fuzzy feeling inside Blake, a sentiment that went well beyond regular gratitude.

"It's nothing compared to your injuries though, just some little-"

Yet Yang's statement was intervened when weak arms stretched forward and hugged her, giving the blonde no time to react. A ridiculous blush filled the entirety of her face as Yang felt the end tails of Blake's bangs tickle her exposed neckline. Blake wasn't sure what was going on either, as her body had been overpowered by a sudden powerful urge to clutch the blonde tightly in her arms.

To both of their disappointments, the embrace was quickly broken by a loud screaming that was being emitted in the hallway.

"Okay! Where is she? Where is my sister? YANG!"

"Oh no." The blonde's eyes widened in comical fear as a small raging girl practically broke the entry as she stormed inside.

"How did you get here so fast? I only called you a couple of hours ago." Yang asked, completely flabbergasted by her sibling's unannounced appearance. A short, dark-haired girl lunged forward and tackled her older sister in a death grip.

"We took a plane out," grumbled Ruby into her sister's chest before ending the hug to point towards a white-haired girl who was entering the room.

"You- You took a plane?" Yang merely gaped in astonishment at Weiss.

"Well, we weren't going to drive all the way here." The business student returned in a down-to-earth way. "Now, mind explaining why we had to skip classes to get here? Can't you go one month without visiting a hospital?"

A very confused Blake watched as the trio engaged in a...seemingly friendly exchange with one another. The combined magnitude of the boisterous blonde and her equally talkative younger sister did not bode well with her migraine. This, of course, did not get any better when a certain red-haired athlete and a clumsy photographer came into the picture as well.

"Oh, you guys are here." Pyrrha grinned, taking a sip of warm coffee with a skittish Jaune by her side.

"What?" Narrowed lilac eyes held the redhead accountable. "You knew they were coming and you didn't tell me?"

"They called me on the cab ride from the airport." Pyrrha smirked. "Because you weren't picking up your phone, as usual."

"I was... I..." Yang paused, realizing she had no excuse for that one. "Oops, my bad."

"And who is this?" Weiss took no time in dawdling as her piercing icy blue gaze darted towards the only male present in the room.

"Um..." An awkward pause engaged the atmosphere as Jaune broke the chatter. "Hi?"

At the man's awkward demeanor, a gear turned in the athlete's brain and she cleared her throat. "I think...some introductions are in order..."

"Right!" Yang thrust her arms around the two girls to her side and titled her head to the corresponding direction of the name. "This is Ruby, my baby sister. And this is Weiss, our close friend."

Upon releasing the couple, she motioned to Jaune. "This is Jaune Arc, a photographer we met on the trip. And...uh...and that's Blake."

"Blake's a travel writer." Yang decided to state briefly, afraid of what might slip off her tongue if given more opportunities of speech.

A relatively poker-faced writer stayed in the hospital bed, peering up at the large group in front of her with mixed amusement and discomfort. Before she could utter a proper greeting, Yang's family member sprung towards her in a curious manner.

"Oh, so _you're_ Blake!" She ranted on happily. "It's a pleasure to meet you! My sister was talking about you nonstop over the phone- something about a really attractive girl who saved her life-"

"Ruby! The girl is recovering for crying out loud!" Yang, her face a mortifying shade of red, pulled her sibling away by the hood. "Schnee! Control your girlfriend!"

"She's _your_ sister," returned Weiss.

"I've had twenty four years of dealing with this one. It's your turn." And with that, the young girl was promptly dragged away.

"Sorry, that was...that was Ruby." The blonde twittered away. "You can just ignore her. She's crazy. We're trying to get her some help."

Blake full-on smiled at the blonde's pitiful excuses.

Adam was right. Certain people you couldn't cut out of your life, even if you wanted to. Yang wasn't a part of that class.

Certain people, from the moment you met them, you knew you wanted them involved in your life. The blonde didn't exactly fit into this lot either.

Blake understood that there was a third, separate category. The kind of people you didn't know you wanted in your life until the irrational part of your brain began telling you otherwise. These were the kind of people that fell out of trees. Or the kind of people that sang annoying songs on road trips, whose breaths smelled like beef jerky.

After two and a half days worth of talking, soul searching, and saving each other's neck - literally and metaphorically - it was only inevitable that Yang would become an exclusive member of that last group.

It was ineffable. It didn't make sense. But who was she kidding, Blake told herself as she watched the blonde twiddle with her thumbs while sitting closely next to her. After today, her life would never make sense anymore.


	13. Wandered Ancient Lands (Epilogue)

**Epilogue**

* * *

A loud chatter of voices was heard over the air. Blake was sitting in a rustic café, looking outside a closed window, watching the blur of unfamiliar faces pass by.

Turning her attention to the table, she set down her leisure novel, indicating where she had left off with a bookmark. Her right hand wrapped around a glass of tea and she took a short sip out of a straw. As she did so, there was the ringing of wind chimes from a close distance. A man, wearing a loose black shirt and matching jeans, entered, slightly out of breath. He peered around the room and saw what he wanted to see. Jogging up a small stairway, he quickly took the vacant seat across from Blake.

"Sorry." Adam panted, while wearing a crooked grin. "Did I keep you waiting?"

It took a moment for Blake to recover. Seeing him physically there before her, after such a lengthy period of time – it was a disorienting experience. She relaxed though, as it slowly dawned upon her that she had no memory of walking inside this café.

She did remember this setting, however. It had been a small coffee shop she visited while backpacking through Europe in the summer. The companion with whom she had gone on the trip with was currently sitting in front of her, having kept the promise he made with her during his last departure.

"Only about a year." She smiled, setting her drink down on a coaster.

"Can I?" He pointed at the cold beverage with a thirsty stare. At her consenting nod, Adam took it hurriedly, abandoning the thin plastic instrument, and chugged, draining the cup until it was only half full. He slammed it onto the wooden round-table, as he would a cold can of beer, wiping the sides of his mouth with the back of his hand. Feeling the bitter aftertaste spread in his mouth, he gave her a look of honest disgust. "Ugh... Tea again? Really?"

She threw him a quick scowl. "If you don't like it, get your own drink."

"You couldn't order one for me when you got yours?" He complained, holding her responsible for having rude manners. "I thought I raised you better."

"How was I supposed to know you were coming?" She retaliated wittily.

"When have I not kept my word?" He challenged playfully, to which she merely rolled her eyes.

"So...? How have you been?" Blake asked as she saw the man summon a cup of iced cappuccino out of thin air. She quirked her eyebrow at the achievement, surprised, but not too astonished, as this was a dream.

"Can't complain." He shrugged as he swallowed down gulps of coffee, appreciating the sweet taste of the drink. "I didn't get the chance to fall off any cliffs in case you were wondering."

"There is never going to be an appropriate time for you to make that joke." She glared at him, though not too harshly. "You know that, right?"

"Maybe." He smirked in reply. "But seriously. I didn't come here to talk about me. I came here to talk about you. How are you?"

"I thought a conversation's supposed to go both ways," she reasoned.

"But you're not supposed to know about the 'life beyond the grave' yet." He curled two of his fingers, air quoting some of his prior words. "Now tell me what happened with the blonde! And do spare me the gory details."

"Like I was going to share _that_ part with you." Blake smirked, enjoying the increasingly impatient expression on the man's visage until she finally decided to inform him. "And if you must know... We started dating."

At her words, Adam beamed. "You did? That's great! I'm happy for you!"

"...three months ago."

"What...?"

"We started dating three months ago." She fiddled around with the straw in her drink, looking unconvincingly nonchalant, as the man's jaws dropped open in disbelief.

"But- You- Why...?" He was pointing at her, then into the empty space next to her, as he seemed to be sorting out what he wanted to say. "Are you telling me...it took you guys _nine whole_ _months_ to get together?"

"We wanted to take things slow," she explained offhandedly. "Be friends first and see how that goes."

His eyes remained on her intently with a rather omniscient gaze.

"Fine, _I_ wanted to take things slow." She caved in, and at his following looks of bemused incredulity, Blake stated her defense. "This is my first serious relationship...with anyone, really. I was being cautious."

"Okay, there's cautious... Then there's paranoid... Then there's just plain sad." He used his right hand to make a stronger argument, starting it at his chest, and then elevating it with each level until his palm was suspended over his head. It didn't take a genius to figure out which category he was implying she was in.

"I've been busy as well." Blake sprouted her final justification. "Things have been hectic with work. I was trying to finish up my first novel."

"Oh?" Like a good audience should, he immediately leaned forward in keen interest. "How's that going?"

"It's already published actually...a few months ago. It's not too long..." She momentarily paused, wanting to be brief but accurate as possible. "...and it's a bit heavy on the subject matter."

"So you've accomplished what you've always wanted then... Congratulations." He leaned on his chair and stared at the bleak timber ceiling of the shop with a moderately wistful countenance as a small piece of regret formed in his heart. "I wish I could have read it."

"You don't have to..." His neck stiffened and his eyes drifted back to the amber orbs glistening at him. "Because you know how it goes."

"What do you mean...?"

"I based the story on the trip. The trip to Vale canyon..." Blake disclosed in a faint whisper.

"...Which one?" Adam voiced his concerns out loud.

"Both." She smiled to a certain extent. The atmosphere that engulfed them was no longer sorrow based on the present. It was simply a remnant of old sentiments resurfacing as they recalled the events that unfolded in their past. "I guess... I needed a happy ending. As happy as it could get."

He tossed her a satisfied grin as he asked. "Do you think you found it?"

"...Yes. And to be honest... I didn't think I'd ever get one." Blake sighed, watching small droplets of water roll off the surface of her drink. "It seemed...impossible at the time."

"Well, you're wrong about a lot of things." He remarked in a conclusive fashion. "You just never admit it."

"Why thank you," said Blake out of mock politeness. He continued to look expectantly at her, and she eventually relented by telling him, "Fine. You were right and I was wrong. Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Adam replied with a small triumphant simper. "Now was that so hard?"

"Quite painful, actually." She furrowed her eyebrows, taking on the act of a woman suffering from a mild stroke. "In fact, I think there might be some internal bleeding."

They exchanged a withering glare, and then immersed themselves in unforeseen mirth. Blake laughed softly, enjoying the sense of euphoria flowing into her. Her body began to feel warmer by the second, which was an odd side effect to have, but she didn't mind.

"It's good to see you, Blake." He told her after a few more chuckles.

"You too, Adam."

* * *

With the blink of an eye, she was awake. Her amber eyes squinted in discomfort at the radiant rays of sunshine pouring down at her through the wide opened windows. The curtains were folded and pulled to the sides. Blake turned away from the blazing ball of heat, cursing at a certain blonde's aversion to drapery.

It was only then did she notice that the left side of the bed was empty.

Blake groaned and lay down on her back, still keeping herself wrapped around in thin white sheets. Stretching her arms and neck, she tried to capture her latest dream. It was slipping from her already, the details of it becoming foggy. Nonetheless, she was sure it had been a nice one. After all, she hadn't had a nightmare for a very long time.

Her hand absentmindedly reached for the digital clock she usually kept by her bedside. But the timekeeper wasn't there, and neither was her nightstand. Blake believed that she was only half-awake. Otherwise, how could she have forgotten that this wasn't her apartment? Instead of her normal routine, she groped around the surface of the bed until she found her phone trapped underneath the pillow case. Clicking on the power button, she saw that the screen read 11:17am, and realized she overslept.

Rising out from the covers, Blake noticed that her laptop was on and whirring. She approached the spot where she had been working late last night and saw that a blank word document was opened with a short message left for her.

"Happy Birthday kitty! Gone to watch the game! Come down when you're awake!"

Her girlfriend, Yang Xiao Long, must have gotten up a bit earlier to watch the subjectively most important game of this season. The reason she had to leave the room in order to do so was because the space they were staying at was hardly furnished. Blake surveyed the small and cramped room. The only visible pieces of furniture were a shabby looking table that held her mobile computer, an almost run-down stove, and a stiff bed.

The place certainly was a steal in regards to the price. They had practically gotten it for free due to Yang's impressively wide array of acquaintances. But still, it would have been nice for Yang's friend to have let them know that all the locale would be providing for them was literally a roof over their heads and a conjoined ramshackle bar downstairs. Nevertheless, the old wooden cottage did come with a marvelous view of the Caribbean Sea. So it wasn't a complete catastrophe.

Being obedient to the message, Blake grabbed a light outer layer and draped it over her tank top. Closing her laptop, Blake tucked the object into her arms, pocketed her cell phone, and left the room.

She had barely gone three steps down the creaky passageway when she heard a familiar voice bellowing out: "Switch! Switch the channel! ESPN!"

Smiling slightly, Blake skipped a step on the stairs as she hurriedly made her way to the bottom floor. Her eyes immediately trailed to Yang, who was sitting on a stool at the bar's front counter. She was flinging her arms in the air, poorly miming some sort tennis action towards a huge muscular bartender, who appeared to become more confused by the second.

"Blake! Thank god. I was going to come up and get you." Yang was quick to notice her girlfriend entering the room, wearing a loose black plaid shirt and cropped shorts. The blonde never ceased to be amazed at how good Blake looked, even with bed hair. Cutting the fantasies short, however, she desperately called out for help. "I don't speak Spanish!"

The writer didn't need to be told twice as she noiselessly took a seat next to Yang and conversed with the owner of the shop in his native tongue. Understanding her words immediately, he grabbed the remote control from underneath the display case and flipped to the sports channel.

"How hot is it that you speak three languages?" Blake simply acknowledged the blonde's compliment with a slight smile.

Placing her laptop on the counter in front of her, Blake turned it on and asked to her side. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I didn't want to. You looked so peaceful." Yang teased. "Besides, how late did you sleep last night? I don't remember you coming to bed."

"Seven...in the morning," Blake answered with a small smirk. Losing nights of sleep while working on an assignment was common news for Blake. What was interesting to see was how the blonde would always try her best to stay awake by her side but eventually succumb quite quickly to a fit of snores.

"...Okay, we went over this. Four hours does not count as sleeping," the blonde stated disapprovingly at her girlfriend's unhealthy habits. "That's a nap."

"Well, thanks to you, I napped more than usual." Blake chuckled. "Is it starting now?"

The question diverted both of their glances to the television set. The match had already begun and the camera was catching a distant shot of the two players standing on the marked floor. It wasn't hard for the viewers to identify their friend. A toned woman stood at an end of the court, her scarlet red hair pulled into a tight ponytail.

A full shot of Pyrrha Nikos was captured as she bounced a tennis ball into play with her hand. Her racket gripped tightly in the right. Lips were pressed into a thin line, a clear sign of nervousness, like anyone would have at the final round of a tournament. But as she threw the yellow ball up into the air and smashed it down in a powerful serve, only concentration remained on her face. The ball whizzed across the net, into the right service box, which the other player – a tall, well-built brunette – received. Pyrrha caught the ball back onto her court, and smashed it into a deep corner. The opponent caught it with difficulty this time, and with the ball not making it past the net, the score now read 40-15 in favor for the redhead.

"Yes!" Yang pointed at the scoreboard hovering at the top left-hand corner. "She's already won her first set."

Blake followed her gaze and saw that their friend had won the first set by 6 to 3.

"If she keeps this up, she'll be reigning champion for three consecutive years!" The blonde smiled broadly. "Come on Pyrrha! You can do this!"

As if the redhead had heard the blonde's words...and avidly decided to go against them, the second set seemed to pull through for the opposite player instead. Yang groaned as the umpire called out Pyrrha for having lobbed another out-of-bound ball. And after a period of tense watching, the redhead lost the match with a score of 4 to 6. Since the tournament was arranged as a best out of three, it meant that the final outcome relied entirely on this last set. The screen showed a tired Pyrrha, walking off the court as the station went on a commercial break.

"Aw, man!" The blonde pounded her fist onto the counter in disappointment. "I really thought she would win that one."

"Her opponent is quite good." said Blake, not looking up from her computer screen as she filled the vicinity with the sound of her keyboard taps.

"Yeah, but she's got nothing on Pyrrha." Yang frowned. "I know my girl's going to bring her A-game for the last one."

During the short hiatus, the blonde ordered a bowl of yucca fries as a sharing buffer. While Blake made use of the time by busily typing through the advertisements, Yang munched on her food, occasionally stuffing some of it into her workaholic girlfriend's mouth.

"It's on!" Yang jolted up in her seat, eagerly gazing up at the television. Blake sighed and, deciding to support her friends for the big moments, closed her laptop shut to fully engage with the screen hanging on the bar wall.

The intensity of the match had multiplied by ten. The two players on the court were smashing and sprinting across the lines, striking the ball with even more precision and power than before. Exhaustion strengthened Pyrrha, as she was one to never give up on a fight. On her turn, she shot a vigorous flat serve that spun so fast, the opponent was unable to catch it. Yang mirrored her friend's small fist of triumph on screen with a much louder and bigger thrust in the air.

Blake wasn't an avid watcher of sports, but even she had to admit that the match was shaping up to be extremely gripping. Each time the redhead made a small blunder, Blake and Yang held their breaths, only exhaling in relief when the athlete took charge of the situation again.

And by the tenth game of the set, with a close score of 5 to 4, the couple was dead silent and frozen in their seats, their eyes darting back and forth, following the movement of the ball, like a dog would while playing catch.

Spectators in the crowd were etched onto the edge of their seats as the game was tied at the third deuce. Returning to 40-40, and it was the opponent's serve. The two professional rallied for a lengthy twenty seconds, until finally the brunette sliced one onto Pyrrha's left side of the court, right onto the sidelines. The tennis player did not move to receive it, her eyes narrowing down in a rather calculative manner. Pyrrha calmly challenged a call, and soon the screen was filled with the official review. The fuzzy ball was replayed and smashed quite closely to the boundary line. The blonde gawked as the camera zoomed into the picture; the ball was barely a centimeter away from touching the line. The play was decided as an out and Pyrrha was given the advantage out.

"Yes! Let's go Pyrrha! Just one more point left!" Yang pumped her fists, as if the redhead was about to engage in some sort combat rather than a tennis match. "Finish her off!"

Time slowed down for the last game. Blake could hear Yang's antsy breaths next to her. The yellow sphere crossed over the net in long motions, then short ones, then back to wide volleys. Pyrrha heaved in her last remaining strength. Waiting for the perfect opportunity, she envisioned the goal in her mind and smashed the ball down in an acute angle, directly into the center where it was left untouched and bounced off the far end of the wall.

Dead silence was soon followed by a thunderous roar of screams and exclaims.

"She did it! She did it! She won!" Yang sprung out of her seat and jumped up and down, shouting around at the sparsely filled bar in ecstasy. "Drinks are on me!"

Yang then forcefully, and fervently, shook the hand of the perplexed bartender, yelling at the top of her lungs while pointing at the screen that had a close-up shot of Pyrrha. "Amigo! She is my amigo!"

"Amiga," Blake didn't forget to correct her girlfriend's grammar, as she too was delighted by the redhead's victory.

"Well, don't you look smug?" Yang quipped, plopping onto the stool.

Even though they were hundreds of miles apart, the couple could sense the energy and thrill coming off from the crowd. The camera followed the standing victor; Pyrrha was smiling brightly, the bangs over and under her visor laced with sweat and fatigue. She shook the hand of her opponent, who was grimacing in a defeated manner. Pyrrha couldn't dwell too much on this as she steadily walked across the court, waving politely at the people cheering her on, reaching out to shake the hands of several fans who were bending over the top seats to see her. At the end of the border, she found the face she was searching for and the camera focused in on her lingering hand hold with a certain familiar blond man.

"Hey! Isn't that Jaune?" Yang pointed out before the channel began to show replays of the final match. Yet at that moment, a funky ring tone ran across the conversation. The blonde closed her mouth, not being able to finish whatever else she wanted to say. Instead, she fidgeted around on the spot and checked both her pockets until she found her buzzing phone.

"Yellow!" Yang picked up happily. "Hey, Ruby! Of course! We just saw the match too! Right...? Yes, I know Pyrrha kicked ass Ruby, I told you I was watching..."

Blake chuckled as she restarted her laptop, somewhat listening to the sisters chat openly about the final round and how they would celebrate their friend's victory as soon as the two travelers returned home. Blake had finished completing two more sentences onto her work when her phone began to vibrate inside her shorts. Pulling it out as well, albeit less enthusiastically than the blonde did, Blake answered the call in a placid tone. "Hello?"

"Blake! Did you see the match? Did you see it? Did you?"

"Yes, Jaune. I saw the match." Blake grinned. "And did _you_ know you were on television?"

"I was? Huh..." There was a pause of surprise in the other end, but then deciding that what he had to say was more urgent for the time being, Jaune skimmed over the news and continued with his talk. "Well... that's not what's important right now!"

He sighed, and then made his plea in a flurry of words. "This is costing me by the second so I'm going to be quick. Tomorrow's going to be my big first night away with Pyrrha and I wanted to make sure things go perfectly, so I really need to talk to Yang. Could you put her on the phone please? Her line was busy."

"She's talking to her sister right now... Hold on." Blake released her ear from the side of her phone and tapped the blonde on the shoulder. "It's for you."

"Oh, okay then...? Ruby? I'm passing the phone over to Blake for a sec," the blonde stated, and then the two mobiles crisscrossed each other as the owners transferred the devices.

"Hi Blake!" An overly cheery voice chirped at her. "Happy birthday! I got you a present too, but you'll just have to wait until you get back to see it."

"Thank you Ruby," replied Blake, pleasantly. Over the course of a year, though her romantic relationship with Yang had been a slow but meaningful process, it had only taken a few weeks for the hyperactive younger sibling of the blonde to grow fond of her. Ever since she had been first introduced at the hospital bed, Ruby conversed with her regularly, telling her embarrassing stories about Yang over the phone but also meeting her in person to attest to how great her older sister can be.

There was a twittering sound of birds and some audible ruckus in the background of the call. Frowning, Blake asked, "Are you outside?"

"We're at the park! Oh, and Weiss says happy birthday too but she can't come to the phone right now, so I'm just passing on the message."

And by befriending Ruby, a relationship with Weiss came by default. The pair, who had apparently gotten together last year when they were away on the trip to Vale canyon, was almost inseparable. Weiss, a rather proud and haughty girl with silky white hair, turned out to be a much nicer company than Blake expected. The two met together if they wanted an evening of peace and quiet; something that the two individuals realized they could not have within their own social circles.

Weiss was constantly surrounded by the siblings whom she seldom referred to as the "two dunces" and Pyrrha – the sane one – spent most of her time training or exploring her new budding relationship with Mr. Jaune Arc. Blake, for the same reasons, enjoyed the tranquil conversations she had with Weiss over tea. They related well with each other, especially empathizing with the fact that their girlfriends were both eccentric, unpredictable, and-

"Weiss! I hear the ice cream truck coming! Hurry- Blake! Tell Yang I'll call her back, okay? Love you! Bye!"

And impossible to keep up with.

Setting down the phone on the counter, Blake turned her head to her partner with curiosity. Yang was not having better luck with her discussion as the photographer launched into a series of random questions which he insisted that he needed for his trip with Pyrrha.

"What's her favorite kind of flowers?"

"Uh... The pretty kind?" Yang had no idea what sort of flowers the redhead adored, and was beginning to wonder if she was a terrible person for not being able to answer a single one of his questions properly. It soon occurred to her though that some of the data he was requesting for definitely wasn't the sort of information a friend had to have memorized by heart.

"...What about her favorite candle scent?"

"What the hell, Jaune?"

"Why don't you know these things?" He hollered into her eardrums, stress and accusation intertwined in his tone.

"Because I never tried seducing my best friend!" Yang shouted with equal force. And at the silent, quizzical expression forming on Blake's face, the blonde quickly explained the reason behind the mini-outburst. "He's making me play: what kind of creepy information do you know about your friend."

"Tell him to stop being an idiot," stated Blake, blank and straightforward.

"Blake says stop being an idiot." Yang waited, regressing to monosyllabic replies as the photographer was streaking out multiple sentences. "Yeah? Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay, bye."

The blonde hung up the call and turned to Blake with a tickled grin. "Jaune says he's holding your book hostage and that he'll see you when you get back."

"Oh, and he also says happy birthday," Yang added as an afterthought, to which Blake sneered.

"He doesn't need to do all those crazy things." The blonde scoffed as she stared down at the phone still in her hand. "She'll love anything he does for her."

"Which is probably the advice you should have given him?" Blake mentioned as she quirked her eyebrow in amusement.

"Love is a battlefield. He's got to learn for himself, you know?" Yang wore a rather impish smile. They switched to their own mobiles again as the blonde questioned, "Did Ruby hang up?"

"I think she was in a dire need to chase down an ice cream truck." Blake informed her partner, astonishingly being able to keep a straight face.

Unaffected by her sister's major love for junk food, Yang pulled her girlfriend up gently by the wrist. "Come on. Let's go upstairs."

* * *

"Blake... Hey... I'm getting cold here without you..."

"When it's thirty three degrees out? I don't think so." Blake smirked as she continued typing, keeping her back to the blonde, who had been whining on an empty bed for the past hour. "Besides, I thought you stayed hot all year round?"

"Sheesh, you know you really shouldn't work on your birthday," grumbled Yang. Lying down on her side with her chin resting on top of her left hand, the blonde used her thick locks of hair as a poor source of entertainment.

"I told my agent I would send the rough draft to her by today," said Blake apologetically, this time tilting her head over her shoulders to console her moody partner.

The blonde made a pout. "Yeah, but still... You're supposed to be on vacation."

"No, _you_ called this a vacation," Blake corrected her kindly. "I called it changing my work environment."

And before the blonde could argue with her, Blake's phone broke out in vibrations once more, sounding louder as it lay on top of a flat table. Blake picked it up quickly, recognizing the number on the dial.

"Hello? Yes, thanks for returning my call..." Blake began to address the speaker as she calmly rose from her seat and left the room to engage in a business discussion. Yang was left alone in the room, gazing at the door that closed on her girlfriend's retreating figure.

With a low grunt, the blonde immediately bent over the bed and picked up a small wrapped package she had hid underneath a loose floorboard last night when her girlfriend was in the shower. She had expected this trip to be a big steppingstone in their relationship, after having taken painfully slow steps upon Blake's wishes. Yang supposed that she really should listen to Blake when planning future events, understanding that when the dark-haired girl said she was going to be working, she truly meant that she would be working.

Humming to herself in a slightly disappointed manner, Yang traced the layout of the present box. She was counting on this gift to be her first big romantic gesture towards Blake, but at the moment, her idea seemed to become more and more stupid by the second. However, before the blonde could reach a conclusive decision, the door opened unexpectedly and Yang tripped over the loose floorboard in a state of panic.

"Well, that was my agent. I told her I needed a- What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" The blonde shuffled onto her feet, desperately trying to hide the package in her twitchy hands. Despite this, it was a little too late as Blake had already seen a flash of purple disappear behind her partner's back.

"It's nothing! Really! I uh...I just...I saw a rat! And I didn't want it to scare you so I picked it up with my hands and now it's in my..." Realizing she was going nowhere with this story, Yang breathed through her nose and respired out in defeat. "It's your birthday present."

"Oh." Blake frowned in confusion, pondering why on earth the blonde wanted to keep it confidential. "...Okay?"

Cricket-chirping silence followed.

"...Are you planning on giving it to me?"

"I'm having second thoughts."

"Yang..."

"Okay, fine!" Yang revealed the present in her hands as she pushed it towards Blake. "But you have to promise me you won't laugh at it."

"I promise," Blake stated as she carefully unfolded the crinkled wrapping paper. Opening it up, she found that it was a hard cover book. It wasn't too strange of a gift, since the blonde frequently bought books as presents, knowing her love for reading. But this wasn't just an ordinary novel, because the front cover of it was imprinted with her own name.

"This... This is _my_ book." Blake was positively puzzled. "Are you...trying to add to my sales?"

"No! Of course not! Like you need my help with that." The blonde let out a short guffaw. "I mean, I had to fight this other guy for the last copy at the store. Practically wrestled it out of his- I'm kidding! The point is that it's great and people love it."

"Then why would you..." The enigma grew more complex when Blake opened up the book to its first page. It was a short list of dedications; she had written: "For a brother, a photographer, and a drifter." But the last words had been crossed out with blue ink. Now it read "aka your awesome girlfriend" instead.

"Um...?" Blake wasn't able to make any sense of the blonde's gesture on her own, and decided to glance up at the lilac eyes, asking for an explanation. "What?"

"Well...I read your book and I know how you thought about the whole story..." Yang rubbed her neck rather nervously as she elucidated. "I...thought it might be interesting for you to see my side of it."

The writer began to flip through her book. With each page turned, the provider of the gift developed into a darker shade of pink. But Blake was too immersed in the scribbled novel to notice. Amber eyes skimmed across the passages and were astounded to see that most of the pages were filled with margin notes. There were even some doodles and drawings to better convey the blonde's mood at the time.

At the part where she narrated about "that god-forsaken song" which Yang's character sang to in the earlier chapters, the blonde's messy handwriting had scribbled the phrase: "How dare you." Next to those words was a nicely drawn head of an appalled woman.

In the climactic scene at the cavern, where the protagonist was starting to fall unconscious, it had been scrawled in: "I'm not a writer like you, so I'm just going to say it as it is. You scared the shit out of me that day. Please don't do that ever again."

Leafing through, Blake eventually stopped at a certain point and read a note that had captivated her attention at once. It was the chapter in which the two main characters were woken up at twilight and had a pacifying talk under a blanket full of stars. Representing the earliest conversation Blake and Yang ever had together in a sincere manner. For this part, the latter had written onto the parchment: "I guess I still drift around. That part hasn't changed since. But I did find that so-called purpose, Blake. And that purpose is to be with you. So come over here and give me some sugar."

"...Yeah...okay... It was a stupid idea. Just forget I ever gave it to you." Yang was grinning weakly as she sat down on the bed, not looking her in the eye. Obviously, she had misinterpreted her girlfriend's shocked silence for disapproval. The blonde had been worried, as she went ahead with her plan, if the gesture was too comical, then at certain sections, she wondered if she was being too serious. At some point, she even half-expected Blake to lash out at her for vandalizing her book, remembering how infuriated Blake got at people who dog-eared their pages. But no, Blake had taken the present exactly how it was meant to be received.

Tossing the book onto the bed, Blake dove forward and sparked a long passionate kiss, an action so foreign to her usually reserved self. Yet it was time for her to carry out her true sentiments regarding the blonde. It was an inexpressible feeling; the closest description of it would be that Blake wanted to spend every second, every minute, and every waking hour with this person in front of her. And as indefinable as it was, Blake could only hope that her sincerity would be conveyed through this sign of love.

Yang immediately reacted, gently pressing back on her lips as the impulsive act of affection turned lighter and more delicate as time passed on. Yang's hand knotted into her girlfriend's black hair, clutching her tighter and closer to her body. After what felt like ages of free access to heaven, Blake's lips finally parted, and the blonde breathed in the alluring scent of her partner.

"...Actually, do you think you can finish your next book faster?" Yang said breathlessly when they broke away. "Because I think I'm going to try that one again."

"You're not in this one," whispered Blake as the two stared intensely into each other's eyes.

"Well, maybe we should change that." Yang smoothly brushed away the messed strands of Blake's hair. "How about we go on another adventure?"

"Wherever you want."

"Wherever _we_ want."


	14. Imagine Me and You

A prompt-based story dedicated to Reeves3

* * *

 **Title:** Imagine Me and You

 **Song Prompt:** Happy Together by the Turtles

 **Genre:** Humor/Romance/One-shot/Modern AU

 **Characters:** Blake, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Coco, Pyrrha

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee

 **Synopsis:** First kisses aren't always that great. The couples sitting around the bar booth could testify to this fact. Yang had royally messed up theirs as well. Except, she did one thing right; she made the wait until the second one unbearable. (Companion-piece to Wandered Ancient Lands)

* * *

 _"_ _Imagine me and you, I do.  
_ _I think about you day and night, it's only right  
_ _To think about the girl you love and hold her tight.  
_ _So happy together._

 _If I should call you up, invest a dime  
_ _And you say you belong to me and ease my mind.  
_ _Imagine how the world could be, so very fine.  
_ _So happy together."_

* * *

"You are all gathered here today to help me with a very important problem." Yang, the one who had initiated this meeting, was the first to speak. She pounded down a glass of cold beer and drove straight into the topic for today. "How the hell do I get Blake Belladonna to be my girlfriend?"

"Aw, is that what this is about?" Ruby, sitting across from her older sister, let out a disappointed whine. "I thought it was girls' night out."

"You mean I had to sacrifice _my_ Friday night to help _you_ get a date?" Another complaint came from a young woman perched to the blonde's right, crossing her legs and upholding a rather chic appearance; she dressed herself in designer brand clothing and wore black sunglasses, despite being indoors. This was Coco Adel, another close friend of Yang's. She worked in the fashion industry and had met the blonde during their last year of college, when she was in desperate need of finding models for her upcoming fashion exhibition and she had abrasively scouted Yang off the streets.

Now, Coco had been around multiple pickup scenes with the blonde, being somewhat of a party-girl herself, and she was already heavily aware of Yang's track record when it came to relationships. Needless to say, they were generally quick and short-lived. Smirking, she asked in a teasing manner, "How long is this one going to last, six days?"

"Okay, that was that _one_ time. And it was because she was crazy," Yang argued fervently. "I mean, she tried stabbing me with her umbrella, remember?"

"Well... You did kind of deserve it since you cheated on her with another girl." A girl with silver hair, on the right side of Ruby, pointed out shrewdly.

"We weren't exclusive!" Yang was about to defend herself against the ascending verbal attacks when the owner of the bar interrupted them, serving them their drinks which he brought on a plastic plate.

"One watermelon lemonade, one glass of white wine," said the bearded man as he set the refreshments down accordingly in front of Ruby and Weiss.

"One martini," this one went into Coco's waiting hands.

"A glass of cold water." Pyrrha, who had left her training program early, due to the blonde's urgent pleas, accepted her drink gladly. Despite the indignant stares coming from her best friend, she didn't want to spoil her health as she had a big match coming up in a few months.

"And this is a new drink I made myself...on the house." He smirked down at the blonde who accepted the tiny glass quite happily. "Can I get you anything else, blondie?"

"Yes, I think I'm ready for my Strawberry Sunrise now." The man nodded and sauntered off as Yang called out to his back. "Thanks for the free shot, Junior!"

"You know...being on a first name basis with the bartender is a sign that you spend way too much of your time in bars?" Weiss commented as she rolled her eyes openly.

"Moving on!" Yang friskily dismissed the acute remark. "What I'm trying to say is... Blake is not going to be a fling. She's the real deal."

"Then why do you even need our help?" Coco smirked as she took a sip of her smooth drink. "You reel in all the hot chicks you want."

"Actually, Yang's been trying for months but she hasn't had any luck." Pyrrha contributed to the conversation in a polite manner. Nonetheless, what she had said brought instant chaos to a particular member at the booth.

"Months?" Coco flipped her head around the table for a reconfirmation, almost yelling in surprise. "Really? Months? Wow, you are _so_ whipped."

"Do you really need to get into this girl's pants? I actually quite like Blake." Weiss huffed, remembering how most of the friendships she established with girls she met via the blonde tended not to last. She knew that Yang was a good person, a caring older sister to Ruby, and a terrific friend. But trusting her to start a committed relationship wasn't easy, mostly due to the fact that there was an obvious lack of there ever having been one in the first place.

"I'm telling you! It's not going to be like that!" The proprietor of the gathering shouted in defense.

"Come on, Weiss! My sister is, for once, totally serious about another girl." Ruby tried to protect her sibling's remaining ounce of dignity from their friends' well-meaning pokes. The red-haired tennis player nodded along in agreement, as she too was the next person to have known the blonde the longest. "Now, Yang, I know for a fact that Blake is into you. She just doesn't want things to move too fast. So what you're going to do is...you're going to want to...not move...too fast."

"...Is... Is that supposed to be your advice?" Everyone was staring at Ruby, with their eyebrows raised, at the unhelpful guidance the petite girl had attempted to offer.

"I don't know!" Ruby retreated with her trusty lemonade in hand. "Blake is complicated and all mysterious!"

"I think she has some major trust issues to work through." Deciding that this discussion was getting nowhere, Weiss decided to deliver the most accurate speculation so far, judging from her previous personal talks with the travel writer over tea. "Give her some time, and she'll come around eventually."

"But I can't wait any longer..." Yang groaned, banging her head on the table several times before resting her forehead on top of it. Pyrrha leaned over and lightly patted the girl's shoulder. Fortunately, at that moment a waitress came around and delivered the drink the blonde had ordered. Forcefully lifting her friend up, the athlete pushed the colorful beverage towards Yang, who eventually accepted it, playing with the mini umbrella decoration on top as she took a long sip from the swirly straw. It cheered her up by a small degree.

"I suppose it _is_ a miracle you've waited this long already," Weiss said knowingly at the girl's notorious reputation of impatience.

"Or... You can do it the easy way." Coco suggested with a wily smile as all eyes focused on her. "And just kiss her."

Most of the people at the booth sent the speaker a tentative glance.

"What?" The fashion designer frowned at the cringes resulting from her proposition. "That's what I did with Fox and it went fine!"

"You did that after taking five shots!" Yang pointed out sharply. "Do you even remember what happened?"

"...Not at all." Coco laughed at her past self, finding the event much more amusing through retrospective lenses. "But Velvet does like to remind me a lot. According to her, I hurled in the bathroom afterwards then passed out. Next thing I know, I'm waking up with the biggest hangover in the history of mankind."

Everyone at the cubicle shared in on the laughter. All except Yang, who was now contemplating over the story of her inebriated friend a bit too seriously than it was meant to be taken.

"Well... I do like the sound of kissing her tonight..." With her chin resting on her hand, making her appear to be in great thought, Yang mumbled to no one in particular.

"Great!" Coco pushed the free shot towards the blonde. "I'll go order some more-"

"No! No. No." The blonde shook her head, suddenly deciding to be adamantly against the idea. "I can't do it drunk! I want our first kiss to be amazing, you know?"

"You shouldn't have too high of an expectation," warned Weiss. "Daydreams about first kisses almost never come true."

"What?" Yang bit back a chortle at the piqued expression on her sister's significant other. "You mean like yours with Ruby?"

"Oh? I actually never heard this story before." Coco bounced in her seat keenly with a deeply interested smile, silently indicating for someone around the table to recount the tale.

"It's nothing special." The greatly amused countenance on the blonde's face told otherwise. "Apparently they were watching a movie at her apartment. And Ruby was talking throughout the whole film because she'd seen it before. So Weiss kissed her, just to make her shut up."

"Wow, thanks for making it sound so romantic, sis," drawled Ruby as she was irked at not only her sister's blunt words but also at her girlfriend who wasn't denying the details to this particular story.

"Her words, not mine." The blonde lifted both hands in the air, cleaning them of responsibility, leading the short girl to send a contemptuous glare to her girlfriend who was calmly enjoying her alcoholic beverage.

Fighting to keep the ideals of love alive, Ruby mentioned quickly, "Wait, Pyrrha said Jaune was a pretty good kisser the first time around?"

"Oh please, I was there for their first kiss when it happened." Yang tried her best not to sound too rude, and therefore threw in a sportive chuckle at the end of it. "She's being nice."

"It was...pleasant." The athlete said, a tight grin spreading over her lips, making her sound very unconvincing indeed.

"You guys were like chickens pecking at each other."

Ignoring the distasteful mental image forming in her head, Weiss took elegant sips from her glass of white wine, stating in mild victory, "I rest my case."

And the group proceeded to murmur in agreement of how first kisses either went horribly wrong or were simply uncoordinated. Movies and dramas tended to amplify the beauty of the moment, they noted in a consensus. The abrupt conclusion of the matter made Yang wonder if what they were saying was true, or if her particular social group was comprised of the most awkward couples in the world with the worst possible timings. And at that moment the blonde wanted to believe, that for her, it would be different.

Options were slim to choose from. Based on her friends, who all had more experience than her with actual committed relationships, Yang was left with three courses of action. The first one was to get hammered and you become unintelligent enough to make a move without thinking. This was probably the worst advice she'd heard in her lifetime, so it was easily crossed off her list.

The second idea was to go ahead and make a move soberly, and simply expect the worst possible outcome. Subjectively, it seemed better than the third alternative, which was to wait until the other person makes the move.

Yang didn't think she'd ever come to it, but she would have to do this the Schnee way. With determination circulating in her bloodstream, the blonde made her decision. "Okay then. I'm just going to go and ask her out."

"Are you sure about that?" Weiss reminded the blonde in case it had slipped her mind, consequently raining down on the girl's parade. "Didn't Blake say she was busy working on her book?"

"Nothing's going to stop me tonight." Choosing to look past that, Yang drained the last bit of her dessert cocktail and stood up from the booth. With the right amount of alcohol and bravery blended into her system, she was finally ready. "I'll see you guys later."

* * *

"Hey Blake!"

"Hello Yang." Merely hearing the writer's voice – even over the phone – filled the blonde's inner sides with uncontrollable glee.

Not bothering to stall with pointless chitchat, she cut straight to the chase. "Listen... I need to talk to you for sec! Could you come on out? I'm right outside your apartment."

There was a considerable pause on the other end of the line. Finally, Blake's startled tone asked her for a confirmation. "...Now?"

"Please?" Yang prolonged the last syllable, conveying what she hoped to be a cute but persuasive plea.

"...Okay." The writer didn't sound too troubled, which the blonde interpreted as a good sign. "I'll be down in a minute."

Yang ended the call, stuffing her phone back into her pocket as she stared at the front door of her crush's flat. Leaning on a nearby parking meter, the blonde went over the scenarios she had sorted out during the cab ride here.

"Blake, I like you a lot," Yang muttered to herself. "Like...like-like you. Like you more than a friend. So would it be all right for us to go out sometime? I mean we already do go out, but I think we should go out-out, you know, as more than friends."

Groaning, the blonde rehearsed another, more refined confession.

"Blake. I like you. A lot." Yes, okay, that didn't sound too bad. A bit confrontational, but she could live with that. At least she hadn't rambled on and on this time.

"...I'm going to kiss you now..." Of course, the last part ruined it.

"No, no, no, that sounds too forceful." Yang swore inwardly, snapping at her own words, feeling quite foolish as she rehearsed her lines in the middle of a deserted urban street. "Can I- May I kiss you? No! That's not it either! Nobody _asks_ for permission, that's so lame!"

"Yang?" The blonde froze in place and gawked up at the travel writer who was walking down the small stairway of the apartment. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though the girl had heard Yang's words as she stopped a few steps short in front of the blonde, giving her a curious gaze as she inquired, "What did you want to talk about?"

The blonde stared longingly at the writer, who was wearing nothing but a thin black cardigan over a gray shirt and shorts. In spite of appearing to have not slept properly in days, as the girl's fatigued eyes with dark circles attested, she still managed to hold an attractive, gracious demeanor.

"Yang? Are you okay?" A concerned voice reached her, halting her from further admiration.

"Huh...? Yeah." The blonde bobbed her head mindlessly. "Why do you ask?"

"...You're staring."

"No... I..." To be frank, Yang was trying her utmost best not to expose the psychotic fray occurring inside her brain. It was the perfect setting. They were standing together under the clear night sky of June. But nothing else was going the way she wanted it to be.

Oh god, had she completely forgotten how to kiss someone? She was hardly a prude; she'd done this before, loads of times. So what was so wrong with her now?

All sorts of ridiculous questions popped into the blonde's mind as her train of thought began to run towards a distant cliff. What did she have to do again? Lean in? At what point did she have to close her eyes? If she closed her eyes too soon, wouldn't she miss the acquired target? But if she closed them too late, the two of them would be staring awkwardly into each other's eyes for the first half of the kiss.

Hands! Where did her hands go? Do they stay trapped inside her pants pockets? That would give her too much of an aloof impression. But if not, where would she put them? Certainly not around the girl's hip like she usually does. She didn't want it to be _that_ kind of a first kiss. The neck, possibly, or maybe around the back of the head... She could cup the writer's cheeks in her hands... Yes, and while doing so, she could cover the girl's eyes with her thumbs, that would solve two problems with one action.

But then what about the nose? At what angle did she have to strategically tilt her head in order for their noses not to collide as they kissed? This was beginning to seem like a more and more impossible task.

Blake was staring at her questioningly, the magnitude of the interest increasing by the minute. At that moment, a warm summer breeze shot past them, and for a second, the writer's hair became ruffled by the wind; her bangs being lifted for a fraction of a second, but enough for Yang to catch the glimpse of a long faint mark above the girl's left eyebrow.

The symbolic meaning of the scar, the bittersweet memories they brought forth, added tremendously to the blonde's courage. If back at the canyons, the writer's life-threatening injury was a middle finger from the universe, this felt like a dear backhanded slap instead, telling her to seize the opportunity rather than to waste it.

"Oh, what the hell," muttered Yang, emptying out all the worries that were confusing her as she centered on one solemn objective. Reducing the gap between them with a hand, pulling Blake towards her by the back of her neck, Yang closed her eyes and charged forward with puckered lips.

By the sudden, aggressive gesture, Blake was more than alarmed. Her body tensed and her head instinctively jerked, and with poor timing, Yang didn't even get the chance for her lips to touch a surface, as the two ended up bumping foreheads - quite harshly - instead.

"Ouch!" Yang hissed out in pain, and opening her eyes saw that Blake wasn't rubbing her injury; she was staring down at the ground with her bangs covering her eyes.

"I'm sorry! That was meant to go a lot smoother." The blonde moaned in self-admonishment. "I swear, I am usually so much better at this."

"You... You were trying to kiss me..." A quiet mumble escaped from the writer's mouth. If one was listening in correctly, he or she would have understood that this wasn't meant to be a question. It was a reactive observation based upon shock and astonishment.

"No! Yes? Is that bad?" Yang smacked herself on the side of head at the lack of response coming from Blake. "Oh god, you never thought of me in that way, did you? Sorry, I thought that there was something going on between us. Ugh! Stupid! I'm such an idiot! I'll- I'll just go."

The blonde pivoted abruptly on her heel, embarrassment and hurt piling up inside in immense speed. Crestfallen, Yang almost didn't notice a gentle tug on the rear end of her shirt.

"Wait," the writer whispered, and the pressure on her shirt became more noticeable to the blonde. A glow of hope returning to her heart, the blonde revolved around nervously. Blake's head was raised now and her cheeks were a wonderful shade of red. Considering how inexpressive the writer was in most situations, Yang understood how hard it must be for the girl to utter the next words.

"I do feel the same way about you," Blake stated with exertion. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she went over what she wanted to say as well. "I... I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long."

"It's just that... To be completely honest, I've never felt this way about someone before," disclosed the writer with a small sigh. The blonde was quick to empathize with this, as she certainly never felt this inclined to pursue another human being for the past twenty four years of her life.

Blake stared up at her lilac orbs, that sparkled brightly despite the ascending night. "I didn't want to act on it...if it didn't mean anything serious and face the consequences afterwards."

"But you always remind me that I have to take some chances." The writer resolved that she lost out in life, not always voicing what she wanted to say. And so it was Yang's turn to become rigid as the travel writer approached her in cautious but poised strides. "So I'm going to take this one."

Surfaces of cool skin curved around her cheeks as Yang discerned a faint scent of printed paper and worn leather bindings off the girl's hands. The blonde didn't even think to close her eyes as the writer leaned in and planted her a quivering kiss. Blake was trembling slightly, and Yang imagined that she was a bit too.

The discussion at the bar room, to a certain extent, had been correct. First kisses were awkward and nerve-wrecking. They were far from perfect. But the gang of content couples had purposely chosen to not mention a crucial fact. That first kisses were amazing because it came with the guarantee of there being another one down the road. They wanted the blonde to figure this out for herself: With the person you were destined to be with, that is all of what a first kiss should encompass.

Yang realized this now, as she smiled broadly in ecstasy when their lips parted. Staring lovingly down at the extremely abashed girl, the blonde sprouted the question she had been meaning to ask since the day they first met.

This kiss wasn't superb; it was inexperienced, edgy, and tense. However, as Blake breathed out a hushed but blissful yes, Yang was filled with a sense of giddiness that there would be a subsequent one.


	15. Sun Turns the Evening to Rose

A prompt-based story dedicated to MasterHamsters

* * *

 **Title:** Sun Turns the Evening to Rose

 **Song Prompt:** Somebody Loved by the Weepies

 **Genre:** Family/Friendship/Romance/One-shot

 **Characters:** Ruby, Weiss, Yang

 **Pairing:** White Rose

 **Synopsis:** Ruby Rose was special in many aspects. She was a loyal companion, a caring sister, and a friend who would die for another friend. All Weiss wanted to do was make this girl understand how she felt about her and how annoying it was when she talked through movies. (Companion-piece to Wandered Ancient Lands)

* * *

 _"Rain turns the sand into mud.  
Wind turns the trees into bone.  
Stars turning high up above.  
You turn me into somebody loved._

 _Nights when the heat had gone out._  
 _We danced together alone._  
 _Cold turned our breath into clouds._  
 _We never said what we were dreaming of_  
 _But you turned me into somebody loved."_

* * *

In the middle of a quiet restaurant located at the upper east side of the city, a young woman sat nervously, engaging in an intense staring match with the vacant seat on the opposite side.

Now, normally Weiss Schnee was the type of person to show up to an event exactly on time, not a minute too soon or too late. At the moment, however, Weiss was anxiously waiting for her company to arrive, as she had turned up thirty minutes earlier than the time they had promised to meet. She needed that extra half an hour to sort through her thoughts and calm her heart down. And it had worked to a slight extent, as Weiss managed to keep her cool when a petite girl bounded across the restaurant into the empty space.

"Sorry! I'm late, aren't I?" Ruby gasped as she settled down on the chair and took the glass of water that had been prepared for her on the table. Finishing all of it in one huge gulp, she added quickly, "There was a lot of traffic on the way... When did you get here?"

"Just now," Weiss lied as she leaned back into her seat, calmly folding her arms. "You didn't need to run."

"It's fine! I didn't want to keep you waiting." Ruby grinned as she finally looked around the room they would be dining at and let out a low whistle. "So what are we having? This place seems...pretty fancy?"

Stating that the restaurant was "pretty fancy" would be greatly trivializing the dazzling elegance of the hall. They were a couple stories up from the ground floor, with an awe-inspiring view of the city at night to gaze at through the transparent glass walls. The business student had made reservations at the most popular spot. She wanted everything to be perfect for tonight. For tonight would be the day Weiss finally confesses her true feelings for the girl in front of her.

Weiss had met Ruby through a series of chances. It was nothing special, she simply happened to be at the right place at the right time. The business student had coincidentally run into an old friend from high school on the streets. She exchanged numbers with her scarlet-haired alumnus, and after which the two of them ended up having lunch to catch up. Then after a few weeks, Pyrrha invited her to a "surprise" birthday party that was being held by her best friend. And that was where she was quickly introduced to the rambunctious Yang Xiao Long, and her younger sister, Ruby Rose.

It was only later did she realize that Ruby was attending the same college as her, though they were a year apart. And it took several months after that for her to become intrigued by the annoyingly happy-go-lucky student, the girl who drank her coffee with a cream and five sugars. Finally, interest transformed into a close friendship, and eventually - to Weiss - something much more.

"Listen... Ruby," Weiss exhaled quietly and shone her light blue eyes towards her bubbly friend. "There's something I need to tell you..."

But the moment was quickly ruined as a low growling sound interrupted her words. Ruby smiled embarrassingly as she rubbed her stomach. "Oops... Guess I'm a bit hungry."

"I think we should order first then." Weiss smirked slightly as she politely called over the waiter.

A tall, lean man with a handlebar mustache was summoned forth.

"Welcome to Rose Blanche. I will be your waiter for this evening." The waiter said in an extremely thick French accent as he passed them two laminated menus. "Would you like me to read you the specials for tonight?"

"...Yeah... Sure! Lay it on us!" squeaked Ruby.

"For appetizers today, we have the Champignon Portabella aux Quatre Fromages, grilled mushroom stuffed with brie and parmesan cheeses, over a blue cheese sauce. The Bruschetta de Flageolets, grilled French bread with mashed flageolet beans, tomatoes, thyme, garlic and hints of balsamic vinegar. The Crevettes Sauce Boursin, shrimp sautéed with sun-dried tomatoes, corn and leeks in a garlic herb cream sauce. But I would most like to recommend you the special Escargots Bourguignon for this evening."

"Escargot...as in?" A corner of Ruby's eyebrow quivered as she asked the question.

"Snails, miss. Snails cooked in garlic parsley butter."

"Uh...huh..." The dark-haired girl seemed to be holding back her true sentiments regarding the list of food he just sprouted. "Anything else...?"

"That is all we serve for the appetizers, though we have an exquisite selection of soups and salads. Soupe à l'Oignon, an onion soup laced with Swiss cheese. There is also the Salade d' Epinards, spinach and romaine garnished with goat cheese stuffed endive, grapes and walnuts, in champagne vinaigrette."

"...You know... I think we could skip the appetizers, can't we? I mean we are starving. There's no need to bother with the small stuff." Ruby laughed nervously as Weiss sent her a quizzical glance. "What about the main dishes?"

"Our head chef would most like to recommend the Saint-Jacques Sauce Gingembre et Citron Vert, pan-seared sea scallops in a ginger lime sauce. The Ris de Veau à la Reine is a popular dish as well; sweetbreads sautéed with mushrooms, garlic and ham in a maderia sauce, garnished with puff pastry. We also have a very nice Saumon Sauce Endives, salmon sautéed with Belgium endive, shallots, white wine, lemon and butter."

By the end of the man's words Ruby's mouth was hanging open slightly, gaping up at the waiter as if most of what we had said was in a foreign language. His mustache twitched as two beady eyes narrowed down at the noticeably disturbed girl. "Do you need a little time to decide?"

"Well...uh...?" Ruby violently shook her head and then began to skive through the menu. "No, no! I'll have the...uh...the salmon, I guess...or..."

"Yes, we will need a moment to decide." Weiss sliced through the girl's mumbles as she stated pointedly at the waiter. The man grunted inconceivably and walked off to cater a different table.

"Why'd you do that? I was going to have the...the..." Silver orbs widened as they scrutinized over the tiny cursive fonts on the menu. "Head of a calf? Am I reading this right?"

Weiss raised her eyebrows at her company's mortified visage. Normally she would find this situation to be, more or less, entertaining. After all, the dishes that were served at this five-star gourmet restaurant were nothing short of pure delicacies. Weiss certainly thought so when she had checked through the Zagat guide for a place that carried a beautiful view as well as high standard food. Though perhaps she had forgotten how awkward Ruby would feel at such a formal dining area. Weiss certainly didn't mean it to be a pompous show of her privileged background. She merely wanted the evening to be perfect.

"Grab your bag." Weiss resolved, picking up her own purse as she stood up from the cushioned chair. "We're leaving."

"What?" Startled, Ruby stayed glued to her seat as she stared up at her graceful friend. "Where are we going?"

"You're not comfortable here." The business student rolled her eyes as she stated the evident truth. Walking away from the table, but peering through the corner of her eye to make sure her friend followed, Weiss added calmly, "Now, come on. We can eat somewhere else."

"Aw, no!" Yet there wasn't much disappointment in the other girl's tone as she said this. Ruby bounced away from the table with visible relief as she dragged her small backpack by the hand. "But this place is so nice! It serves...snails...a pancreas..."

While listening to the girl's fading murmur, Weiss directed them out of the restaurant, tipping the disgruntled waiter on the way as she asked him to offer their reserved seats to a waiting couple outside. Walking down a marble corridor, her wedged heels echoing throughout the large hall, Weiss kept a keen eye on Ruby. The girl, two years younger than her, was looking much more at ease the farther they got from the restaurant. As they got into the elevator to return back to the main lobby, Ruby began to talk sheepishly throughout the period of silence. "I'm sorry... You probably went to a lot of trouble finding this place..."

"It's fine, Ruby," she answered truthfully, passing the girl a natural smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay...?" The girl patted down the sides of her dark reddish hair, sending her friend a few weird looks.

Noticing this, the business student frowned in confusion. "What?"

"No, it's just... You're being _really_ nice today," Ruby commented, as if this fact alone was enough to know that something fishy was going on. A familiar irksome expression returned to Weiss and the speaker hurriedly added, "Not that that's bad or anything!"

Weiss simply passed her a short glare, yet did not deny the previous remarks as she had been trying her best to be agreeable, more so than her usual snarky self. Sighing slightly as a ding from the elevator alerted their arrival to the bottom, the young woman with white hair asked, "Did you have something you wanted to eat?"

"Well... I do know a great sandwich stand that's only a couple of blocks away from here."

So they began walking, both dressed moderately for a warm July evening. Ruby chattered on as they went, starting the conversation about her day and a small mess up she was responsible for while working her part-time summer job at a café. She had accidentally knocked over a container of sugar into a coffee drink. Thankfully, the customer had been Coco, a friendly acquaintance of theirs via Yang. The fashion designer – a notorious caffeine enthusiast – spewed the drink out after an uninformed sip then proceeded to laugh her head off at Ruby's rapid fire of apologies.

The narrator believed that she was telling the tale in a relatively engaging manner. However, when they turned a corner and arrived at their destination, Ruby noticed that her companion was staring without any focus, giving off the impression that she wasn't listening at all.

"Um...? Weiss...?" And as the girl waved a hand in front of her face, the addressed jerked her attention out of her brain, back to the real world.

"Yes? What is it?" To be frank, Weiss's mind was fixated on her objective for the night that she could hardly concentrate on anything Ruby was saying.

"We're here." Weiss turned to her left and saw that they were standing in front of a bustling shop at a numbered street. Silver eyes blinked at her with a minuscule amount of concern. "Are you okay? You were spacing out. You never space out."

"I _told_ you. I'm fine," Weiss huffed and pulled the young girl towards the counter by the arm. "Let's just order and eat."

Taking Ruby's advice, they ordered two medium sized meals off the specials board, then after several minutes of waiting, they sat down at the tables out on the patio, fresh sandwiches being held in both their hands. The business student only nibbled on her food, the inner sides of her stomach performing somersaults as she prepared her lines for the second time that evening.

"Ruby. What I really wanted to tell you was-"

However, as luck would have it, she was once again rudely intervened by a punk rock tune coming from her companion's backpack. Weiss was a few seconds short from taking the cell phone out of her crush's fumbling hands and hiding it inside her own purse. But remaining levelheaded, she decided against it.

"Hello?" Ruby straightened up as she recognized the sleek voice coming from the other end. "Coco! Hi! Like I said before...really sorry about what happened today!"

There was a nice hearty laugh, which was loud enough for even Weiss to hear from across the table. The fashion designer's voice softened considerably though as the conversation prolonged. Ruby's face, on the other hand, grew darker.

"Uh huh? She did...?" Weiss noticed a slight cringe forming on her companion's face. "Not again... Well... I'll talk to her when I get home..."

"Wait, _is_ she going to be home?" There was a short pause as Ruby tilted her head in worry as she pondered out loud into the phone. "...You'll make sure she gets there? All right then, thanks a lot Coco. You're the best...! Yeah... Okay, bye."

With an exasperated sigh, Ruby hung up the phone and set it down carelessly onto the wooden table. "Apparently Yang quit her job again."

"Oh..." Weiss frowned in concern, though she was not altogether that amazed. After all, this wasn't the first job the blonde blew off on her own accord. Considering the fact that she had been working at this local automobile shop for more than two months, it was predictable enough that Yang would decide to depart from it and choose a different way of life to keep herself entertained for another few weeks. "Where is she now?"

"She's at the bar. Coco's going to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid though...like sticking her tongue down a stranger's throat..." Ruby sent her phone a rather disgruntled look, as if her mobile was reminding her of Yang's impulsive courses of action. "I love my sister, but I really wish she finds what she wants to do in life, you know?"

"I guess it comes harder for some people than others." Weiss shrugged, in poor attempt of cheering up her companion, whose mood had grown abruptly depressed after the phone call. "You changed your major a couple of times in college."

"Yeah... I did..." The girl brooded as she took big bites out of her sandwich. Munching and swallowing down chewed pieces of lettuce and ham, Ruby breathed out her subsequent words as a long sigh, "I can't believe classes are going to start back up in August."

"You don't sound like you're looking forward to it." The business student took the time to be surprised, as normally the girl found most things in life exciting and thrilling. Naturally, she assumed finishing college and officially taking her first steps into society would be one of them. Yet Ruby's face was subtly becoming more gloomy.

"No! I mean, I look forward to graduating and all." The dark-haired girl expanded on. "But you'll be finished with your degree soon...and then leaving the school."

Weiss wondered if she was putting too much thought into the girl's words when she discerned a hint of yearning mixed into her voice. However, her hopes plummeted back down instantly as Ruby continued in a glum undertone, "I just wish everything didn't have to change so much, so quickly. I like things the way they are."

There was an extended period of silence as the younger girl wore an unreasonably somber expression. But it was quickly wiped away as Ruby shook her head, erasing her clouding thoughts as she realized she was being a drag on the otherwise lovely outing. Ruby faced her friend with a sincere goofy smile. "And I was rambling again, my bad... So what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"...Nothing." Weiss grinned weakly. "Nothing at all."

* * *

Weiss sat patiently on the living room couch of her crush. Cradling a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, she waited patiently alongside Ruby until they heard a series of unrefined clunking noises coming down the stairway. A tall blonde woman, with terrible bed hair and inside-out pajamas, stumbled towards them. With a few steps remaining, Yang saw, through drowsy eyes, a familiar pair in sight.

"Hey, you two lovebirds!" The blonde began to shout loudly, waving over at them despite the ringing headache she was suffering from yesterday evening. "How was your-"

But she halted in her tracks, watching with a bewildered expression, as her normally composed friend was frantically shaking her hands in the air, making large X-s as silently as possible as Ruby simply stared forward at her older sibling.

"Lovebirds? What are you talking about?" The dark-haired girl questioned, and despite the massive pressure of Weiss's horrified glares and the continuous urge to empty her stomach of all things alcohol-related, Yang forced the gears in her brain to run at a faster speed.

"Nothing! Just those birds outside looked like they were having a good time." The blonde chuckled nervously and immediately began to change the subject. "So, uh, how'd I get home last night?"

This attempt was successful, perhaps working a little too well for Yang's comfort zone, as Ruby turned slightly pink with frustration. "Yang! You passed out at the bar! Coco had to call us and we had to help her get you in a cab!"

"Uh... Sorry?" Yang let out a shaky, apologetic laughter, then as always, tried to lighten the mood with a customary joke. "I guess that means I owe her another modeling job."

"You're lucky dad's away on business or he would have you under house arrest!" Then the younger sister walked off with a minor tantrum in her footsteps.

"What did you just do!" Weiss whispered angrily as soon as Ruby disappeared past the frame of the kitchen.

Dragging the girl away by the arm for a more private conversation, Yang retaliated back in a hushed voice. "I thought you were going to ask her over dinner!"

Weiss avoided eye contact with the vivid lilac irises goggling down at her, choosing to stay silent, and bit down on the lower part of her lips instead.

"I'm starting to think there's a better chance of me settling down with somebody than you asking Ruby out on a proper date." The blonde groaned to herself. "What happened?"

"I couldn't" came a short, elementary response. "Something came up."

There was a noticeable exclaim of disbelief being emitted from the blonde. "Like what? What could possibly come up now?"

"Like a drunken older sister, that's what!" The girl snapped. And for the first time since she woke up, Yang truly looked repentant for what she did last night.

"...Oh. I'm so sorry..." The blonde said in a deeply concerned way. "I didn't mean to ruin your big night... How bad was it? Is she still mad at me?"

"Of course not. Your sister's a saint."

There was a moment of nonverbal agreement as the air of the house was slowly filled with the pleasant smell of chicken noodle soup, Yang's favorite and most effective hangover food. The blonde still looked unbearably guilty and Weiss, feeling unnecessarily responsible, decided to retract her previous lashing.

"It wasn't because of you, Yang..." She sighed before continuing on with verity. "I was about to...but she started talking about how she didn't want anything to change and that she liked her life just the way it was. And I guess her words scared me more than they should have."

"...I get it... But don't let small things like that bum you out, Weiss. Do me a favor and tell her how you feel. It's getting harder and harder to watch." The blonde remarked candidly. At the initial stages, watching her collected friend turn fidgety and embarrassed beside her sibling was extremely comical. But after too many reruns, the process was growing too long and repetitive. "When you do, I'll have a bottle of champagne ready to celebrate with you, okay?"

"...All right. Thank you." And as this was Weiss, she didn't allow the conversation to easily end on Yang's terms. She gazed up at the blonde with a mildly crossed visage. "And you need to do _us_ a favor by stop messing around. You had us worried."

The blonde grunted and gave a short nod of obligatory consent. "Right..."

"Why did you quit?" She inquired with a tiny frown. "I thought you quite enjoyed working there, tinkering with motorcycles."

"...I don't know." Yang shrugged. Trying to explain how her brain made decisions was a difficult task. "You guys were all moving forward, doing what you want to do. Coco's busy with her new clothing brand getting pretty popular. I barely see Pyrrha these days, since she's got that big tournament coming up. And here I am, working at a dead-end job, just buying some time until I find something else to do with my life? ...I guess I had a sudden existential crisis."

"I think you have those too often."

"Mph, well maybe I'll go on another trip. Cool my head again." The blonde offered her a very suggestive wink. "Giving you two some quality time alone won't be such a bad idea?"

Weiss wrinkled her nose at the crude insinuation. "You have an odd way of caring for your sister."

* * *

Another opportunity didn't come by for Weiss until the middle of August. Ruby had called her in the middle of the night informing her that Yang was planning on hiking through some sort of canyon for a week. When is she leaving? She had asked. Tomorrow morning, Ruby had answered. And thanks to the crazy sister, Weiss spent the rest of the night preparing things that the blonde was likely to forget to pack.

Early next day, Weiss had driven out to Ruby's house with the care packages loaded in the back of her car. Weiss wasn't anticipating being left alone with Ruby, but when she arrived, the place was absent of a loud blonde. The younger girl said that her sister left around the break of dawn to borrow their uncle's car as well as to pick up Pyrrha.

The business student was slightly irritated that this fact hadn't been mentioned beforehand. If Pyrrha was going alongside Yang on the trip, she need not bothered to do this. Feeling mightily foolish about the abundant amount of work she put in to make sure her reckless friend stays alive, Weiss silently unloaded the boxes and bottles of water onto Ruby's living room floor with some help. As they finished, the sudden sound of a rumbling engine roared from across the opened front doors. Yang, humming some sort of tune, honked at them loudly from the car, calling for them to come out. Ruby and Weiss shared a glance then decided to delay the conversation until later and began to move the boxes back out into the giant wrangler parked outside the driveway.

It took an hour or so, but the two of them bid farewell to Yang and Pyrrha. A short moment before they took off onto the road, Weiss pulled the blonde aside and informed her that today would be the day she was ending all the drama, leading to how they got to where they were now: Weiss was sitting on the carpeted floor of her apartment with Ruby who had invited herself over for a movie marathon sleepover.

Currently they were gazing up at a television screen as they watched the first part of a trilogy, a film Ruby had personally selected herself after Weiss revealed she had never watched it before.

Now, no matter how much Weiss was in love with the girl chattering next to her, she had never grown to appreciate Ruby's endless amount of commentaries while watching a show or a movie.

"You see them going into that cave? They are going to get into a lot of trouble, trust me... Oh! This is a great scene. Pay attention to the guy's screams. He sounds exactly like a little girl."

"I don't get why that girl doesn't take off her cape! She could have been impaled by those...feathers."

"This part with the giant robot suit? Never gets old. Go! Kick his butt!"

It didn't end there. Ruby gave her the impression that there were more than two movies playing simultaneously as the girl enjoyed performing voice impersonations and merging her own version of sound effects into the story. Several minutes into the second part of the series, Weiss didn't think she could take another second of it.

Ruby was shouting at the screen, as two of the main characters were engaging in a serious talk about their past. "Come on! Just go ahead and kiss her! You've already asked her out for a dance! All that's left is to kiss!"

The petite girl was leaning quite close to her, as Weiss noticed with heated cheeks. From the near proximity, the business student could effortlessly take in the strong scent of roses and chocolate chip cookies of her friend.

"Don't you hate it when two characters that would be perfect for each other never ever make a move when you want them to?" Ruby turned to Weiss, wearing an annoyed expression. "I mean-"

Whatever question she was about to impose, any theories or spoilers the girl was about to share regarding the movie had been all effectively silenced as there was a forceful push of pressure onto her upper lips. With the blink of an eye, Ruby saw Weiss shoot forward in an unexpected motion before pulling away as equally as quickly.

Overtly confused glimmers of silver stared out and noticed the appalled emotion of fright and horror in the shade of light blue.

"You were talking too much." And honestly, Weiss considered leaving it there, making it seem as if that really could be a justifiable reason for kissing someone on the lips during a movie.

"...You kissed me." Ruby, unfreezing from the moment of stupefying shock, stated shortly. Then her expression began to harden somewhat as the occasional look of maturity emerged. "Weiss... Why...?"

Clearing her throat, the hostess said cautiously, "I think you should go home now."

"No. I don't want to go." The girl's face tightened, brows furrowing and her eyes turning serious. "Tell me why you kissed me."

"Then I'm leaving," asserted the business student as she tried getting up, but a surprisingly strong grasp on her right wrist held her back.

"This is your apartment, Weiss." It was obvious that the younger girl wasn't about to let this go as a mistake. "Why did you kiss me?"

"What- What do you want me to say?" The truth, of course, Ruby wanted the truth.

"Weiss..." The girl breathed in deeply and asked the next question with a dangerous level of meekness. "Do you like me?"

Eyes, resembling the level of cuteness and pleading of a wounded puppy, blinked up at her.

"Of course I like you, you dunce!" Weiss burst out of her shell as she ran her hand through the strands of her snow white hair. "What else is a kiss supposed to mean?"

At this shrewd point, the young girl simply ogled at her for a good five minutes. Taking this opportunity of immobilization, Weiss stood up from the ground, escaping out of Ruby's slackened grip.

"Don't worry... I'm not going to ask you out or anything..." She was crossing her arms as she said this, not knowing when the right moment was to walk away or to turn back around and catch a glimpse of the disapproving face that would crush her heart. What she had not prepared to hear...was laughter.

Weiss whirled around at the non-rude, non-derisive laugh. It was a loud, mirthful giggle, filled to the brim with glee and pleasant surprise. Ruby was staring up at her, with a slightly teasing look. For a second, Weiss was worried that it was April Fool's day and that the girl had taken everything she said as a joke. But sincerity was plastered onto the girl's unwavering stare. The mixed signals her crush was sending off were rather infuriating.

Ruby flashed her an eager smile. "I like you too, Weiss."

"You... You do know that I mean more than friends, right?"

"Yes, I do know that." It was a strange turn of events, where Ruby was the one dictating the conversation for once.

This was because Weiss, to use a colloquial expression, was very out of it. The business student felt as though she was completely deprived of phrases. Lungs punctured out of oxygen, Weiss felt slightly dizzy looking down at the girl in sheer disbelief and shock. She resolved to confess her feelings no matter what the consequences were. And understandably, she had prepared for the worst possible outcome in her mind as she lunged for an uncouth first kiss. Acceptance and reciprocation were far from her thought process.

"But... I... I thought you never saw me in that way... Or did you?" She managed to spit out, causing the question to come off as an out-of-context accusation.

"Well, duh!" Ruby grinned weakly. "Of course I liked you too! ...But maybe I was scared of what will happen if I tried...and I didn't want to risk everything, you know?"

Yes, she did know. The reason seemed altogether too familiar for her taste.

"What about you saying... You didn't want things to change?"

"...Is that what you were so stressed out about that night?" The girl looked upset as she rushed to explain. "No! I just meant... It would be so boring when you graduate. That's the only part I wish wouldn't change..."

There must be some sort loophole, some sort of horrible aspect she was not able to read off yet. But everything about the room, the atmosphere, the movie, the summer heat, seemed to turn cozy and snug as Ruby gave her the look of undivided attention, full of so much affection that she was surprised how dense she had been not to notice it before. And all this time, she had been blaming Ruby for being the ignorant one.

"You..." This seemed like an appropriate moment for a prolonged face-palm. "We are both idiots."

"So... That's it then? We're dating now, right? Right?" The girl was beginning to sound more and more like the usual Ruby as she bounced up from the carpet floor and practically forced her arms around Weiss in a friendly, boundary-less hug. "You're going to ask me out _now_ , right?"

"I suppose so." A faint smile finally escaped through the concluding tension.

"Awesome! I can't wait to tell-" Ruby's face resurfaced and a look of mild terror formed on her face. "Oh man, Yang is going to totally flip when she finds out about this..."

"Ruby... Um..." Weiss was quick to reassure the younger girl. "Your sister knows. I told her a month ago to ask for permission to date you."

"She knew?" Ruby turned rifled at this piece of information. "She knew and she didn't tell me? She should have said something! Then I would have said something sooner!"

And then Ruby began to dive into a verbal fit, chirping on about how Yang should have simply tied the two of them together and thrown them in a room somewhere to discuss this. The idea certainly sounded like a plan the older sibling was capable of executing. If she had not acted today, after consecutive failed tries, Weiss was quite certain that this scenario would have been put into action once the blonde returned from the canyons.

Thankfully, the day would pass without any lies, no more shenanigans used to cover up the truth. Weiss could practically hear the blonde yelling at her, congratulating her and practically throttling her with a bottle of champagne in her hand.

But for now, she saw a miniature imaginary version of Yang popping up onto her shoulder, taunting into her right ear, "That was some half-ass kiss, Schnee."

Oh, Weiss was about to change that for sure.


	16. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 1)

**Title:** Tomorrow Makes It Better

 **Song Prompt:** Last Hope by Paramore

 **Genre:** Friendship/Romance/Drama/Hurt/Comfort

 **Main Characters:** Blake, Yang, Ruby, Weiss

 **Minor Characters:** Sun, Neptune, Ren, Nora

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee

 **Synopsis:** It was like waking up from a bad dream, only for another nightmare to come along and replace it. Time had gone haywire, forcing Yang to consistently repeat one single day of her life. But perhaps this wasn't a curse, but an opportunity, as she would come to realize something she had not known about herself or her partner. And no matter how impossible it seemed, it was never too late to change the future.

* * *

 _"It's just a spark_  
 _But it's enough to keep me going._  
 _And when it's dark out, no one's around._  
 _It keeps glowing._

 _Every night I try my best to dream_  
 _Tomorrow makes it better._  
 _Then I wake up to the cold reality_  
 _And not a thing is changed._  
 _But it will happen._  
 _Got to let it happen."_

* * *

07:58

Inside a small dormitory room at Beacon Academy, a blonde huntress in training stirred in her sleep. Her eyes blinked open lazily, squinting at the rapid pour of sunlight onto her side. Lifting her head up from the pillow, with golden yellow locks tumbling down like a waterfall, she greeted the morning breeze.

The room was empty, noted Yang, as she saw that the furniture across from her were already tidied; Without a doubt, her younger sister's bed that was suspended in midair through strategic usage of ropes, was cleaned less nicely than that of the heiress, a stickler for neatness.

The last remnants of her dream were chased away as the blonde stretched, straightening her back and extending her arms in opposite directions. It had been a bizarre one, not making much sense as usual. Yang thought she remembered some sort of an underground freight train...but it could have been her lively imagination at work.

She was just about to jump off of her bed onto the ground when she heard a soft noise reach her ear. It was the sound of turning pages, something Yang had gotten used to hearing with her crazy bookworm of a partner.

"Blake...? Are you there?" Yang grabbed the edge of her bed with two firm hands and bent over, peering down below onto the lower bunk. A young woman with raven hair and a mini-black bow that matched in color was sitting on top of the unruffled white fabric. There was a slight twitching movement on the top of her head as cool amber eyes rose above her book, only a for a brief moment, before returning to its tiny fonts.

"Yes" was the succinct greeting her friend chose to give her.

Ignoring the head rush, Yang continued to hang half her upper body over the bed, watching the feline girl in deep concern. The bags under her eyes had deepened even more than last night. Yang hoped that her partner would have gotten some sleep this time. But she highly doubted this to be true. Before she can say anything else, the blonde was forced to retreat to her sheets as her morning alarm rang from her scroll. And then a few seconds after she had shut it off, the door of the dorm room was thrust open, shaking the walls as two figures strolled inside.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" Her younger sister attempted to shout in a loud, disruptive voice, though most of what came out went unheard as her jaws were crunching down on a chocolate chip cookie.

"I can't believe you're having _that_ for breakfast again. Haven't you ever heard of a healthy diet?" Weiss spoke in a disgruntled manner, though deep down Yang knew that the heiress was simply caring for her partner.

The leader with dark-reddish hair ignored the nagging as she wolfed down the rest of her food with a swig of coffee. While doing so, however, the hot beverage burned her tongue and Ruby hissed in pain, accidentally spilling heavy drops of her sugary drink onto the circular carpet.

"...Oh, well, that's going to leave a stain..." And upon seeing the heiress's annoyed glare directed at her, she hesitantly tried to defend her mistake. "Aw come on, Weiss! It's on my side of the room!"

"We share the same side of the room, Ruby," Weiss retaliated very easily. "Your life-threatening bed is hanging over mine as we speak."

"Well, we could wait for it to dry and flip it over on its good side."

Weiss exhaled in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose, before deciding to leave the matter unsettled for now. "Just leave it like that for now. We've got a lot of things to take care of this morning."

"We do?" Yang's question drifted off into a tired yawn, despite the nearly ten hours of sleep she had gotten. Ruby tilted her head as well, looking uninformed. An exasperated heiress rolled her eyes.

"We need to get the ballroom ready for the dance, remember?" Weiss sent the two of them a withering glare. "I left you guys a note about it in my binder." Yang vaguely remembered one of her friend's many humongous binders that had been labeled "The Beacon Dance" at the front of it.

"Oh... Right..." Ruby bobbed her head along in mock understanding. "Yeah... I definitely read that."

This led on to another bickering match between the two. Yang blocked both of their voices out and turned to face her introverted partner instead.

"...Blake? Uh, did you want to come and help?" The blonde offered tentatively to her teammate who hadn't said a word since getting up from her bed. "We'll be blowing up balloons...and putting up streamers...? It could be a potentially not boring way of spending your Saturday morning?"

The girl glanced up from her notebook, at least always paying her teammates with the appropriate amount of respect. "Sorry, but I think I'll be heading to the library."

There was a small grunt, which the blonde supposed was meant to be her partner's way of saying goodbye without actually having to say it. "I'll see you guys later."

Holding onto her book, Blake walked out of the room without opening her mouth again. Ruby and Weiss's banter came to a halt as they nervously watched their teammate exit the room. Once it seemed certain that the girl was out of audible reach, Ruby muttered in an upset tone, "I guess she's still..."

Weiss merely nodded slowly, appearing worried enough to have forgotten about the argument she was having with the former.

"Come on," Yang piped, breaking the silence as she pulled the other two tightly together by the shoulders and pushed them gently through the doorway. "We should get going too."

* * *

12:02

The trio had hurried over to the large empty hall where the big dance was being held. The location was huge enough for numerous students, from all visiting academies, to attend together. Within several hours, the place had become unrecognizable from its usual demeanor, which had a much more Gothic touch to it due to the architectural age of the school grounds.

Now, with the touch of Weiss and Yang, the setting had become a cross between elegance and vitality. The dingy black curtains had been lifted out of the way, flooding in sunlight. Small masses of balloons that have been puffed up by the blonde were floating in the air, tied down to every pillar and statue in the room. Bright pink banners decorated the bleak mundane walls. And with the help of an extremely tall and wobbly ladder, they had managed to connect streamers at the ends of the candled chandeliers without somebody breaking a neck. It was hard to picture this being the same place they had camped out at during their first day at Beacon, back when they were beginning first years, not having even gone through initiation yet.

After the large tasks were over, they decided to take a short break at the dining area of the school, filling their hungry stomachs with spaghetti and meatballs. By two o'clock, they had returned to the adorned room, having some more menial tasks to accomplish. Nonetheless, Ruby suggested prolonging the break until three so that they could use the hour in between to track down Blake.

"...She wasn't at the cafeteria...which means she probably didn't eat anything at all! I should really try talking to her again..."

But Weiss insisted that the faster they got the job done, they could use the remaining time to help their stubborn friend.

"I don't think there's anything else you can say that'll convince her to take it easy... How about we finish setting up the dance hall, and once we're done, we can all go and talk to her."

She said this in a tone that admitted of very little argument, which was why the other two decided to climb on board with her plan.

Not dawdling any time as usual, Weiss went straight to project mode, designating jobs for each of them to perform.

Ruby was in charge of positioning the seats and tables the guests would be resting at. Weiss took care of the table clothes, the silverware, the dessert table, and other tiny details leftover in terms of decoration. Meanwhile, Yang had been left with audio duty. Moving in large pieces of stereo equipment into the hall, she was barely breaking a sweat. As she set down the last heavy piece of electric gear onto the ground, shaking the floor underneath her in the process, she noticed that a melancholy Ruby had already finished her work, and was now sprawled across a round table, resting her cheek on top of her outstretched right arm. Wiping her hands clean of dust, the blonde approached her sibling.

"So... Have you picked out a dress yet?"

"What's the point?" Ruby answered in a saddened tone, shifting her body slightly to face her sister better. "Who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?"

"Oh, don't worry. She's going," proclaimed the blonde with confidence that seemed to come from nowhere. Still, Ruby's expression remained downcast. Yang bit back an earnest frown as she thought about how her teammate's condition was not only affecting her health but also her overly empathetic younger sister.

Her lilac gaze flickered to the side, distracted by a flash of eggshell white. Yang, with horror-filled eyes, saw patterned ornamental mats being placed on some of the set tables.

"Weiss!" Yang yelled out in half-accusation and half-exasperation. "I thought we agreed. No doilies!"

The blonde's fingers balled into annoyed fists and her brows knitted together as well as the heiress approached her in a dignified stance.

"If I don't get doilies," the girl said as she pointed a warning finger towards her chest. "You don't get fog machines."

Yang was about to counter attack when the doors of the hall opened and two male figures entered noisily.

There was a faint scoff as a boy with light blue hair tossed them a disbelieving grin whilst walking forward. "Your dance is going to have fog machines?"

"We were thinking about it." Weiss approached Neptune, hands politely curled up together in front of her battle attire, behaving suddenly extremely accepting of the blonde's idea.

"That's pretty cool." Neptune sent her a smooth gesture with his hand as his best friend sauntered into the room, grooving his arms to an invisible beat as he pointed his index fingers jovially at them.

"You ladies excited for dress up?" Sun asked casually.

This earned a smirk from Yang and a hard glare from Weiss, who didn't need an excuse to ever provide Sun with that look. A ridiculing laughter escaped from Ruby as she seemed to scorn the fundamental idea of what the boy was suggesting. "Yeah right."

"Laugh all you want." The blonde shrugged while crossing her arms, holding herself in a self-confident posture. "I'll be turning heads tomorrow night."

"What are you two wearing?" Weiss inquired in turn.

"Uh..." Sun glanced down at his current outfit. "This?"

"Ignore him." Neptune blocked his friend's face with his gloved hand. "For he knows not what he says."

"Hey!" Sun pushed him out of the way to focus the attention onto himself. "I may have moved to Mistral but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt or tie kind of place."

"Yeah..." Yang drawled, fixing an uninterested glare onto his naked chest which he revealed for the whole world to see. "We've noticed."

"So...uh... What does Blake think of all this?" Sun rubbed the back of his head as he tried to subtly change the subject. There was a slight pause as he tried to phrase his thoughts carefully. "Is she still being all...you know...Blake-y?"

Yang was mildly irked at his choice of words, but chose not to show it. Weiss took his question to be self-explanatory as she gave him a frisk "obviously" as a reply.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind," Ruby whined, resting the side of her ear on an opened palm.

"Guys, trust me." Yang stepped across the tables as she announced with determination. "Blake _will_ be at the dance tomorrow."

And she exited the room, praying that what she had in mind would indeed work on her partner as she had reassured the group.

* * *

16:11

Stopping by the dorm room, she checked around, making sure that Blake hadn't had any second thoughts and decided to take a short nap in their room instead. But the covers of her partner's bed remained untouched. Sighing, Yang decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. Digging into her messy drawer, she sifted around until her fingers curved around a familiar metal cylinder. Grinning slightly, the blonde pocketed the object and quickly left the room.

Heading down the corridor to the library, she was going over her story and almost bumped head first into someone who had been standing at the end of the deserted passageway.

"Oh!" Yang stopped herself after seeing a pair of classic black boots come into her field of vision. She then found herself meeting the gaze of two narrow brown eyes. "Professor Ozpin!"

"Miss Long," he said back pleasantly, leaning on his cane and sipping on his coffee through a school mug.

"Sorry! I was kind of in a rush," she apologized sheepishly, patting down her thick mane of hair. "Didn't see you there for a second."

"That's no problem at all." He smiled at her, though the sentiment did not reach the depth of his shadowy eyes. "I suppose you are all very excited for the upcoming events? I must say... You and Miss Schnee have done a wonderful job in organizing the dance. Team CFVY would have been very proud of how the two of you took charge."

"I guess so?" She scratched her head nervously. "I mean... It was a lot of fun planning it."

There was an awkward pause as only silence and sounds of sipping coffee filled the air.

"...Well... It seems as though I am only delaying your task," said the headmaster calmly. "Why don't you go along and have that talk with Miss Belladonna now."

"Bella- How...did you...know that?" She asked him, not out of suspicion but of slight awe, wondering: Was there literally nothing in this world that went past him?

"It seems as though your friend has been...rather docile ever since the day at the docks." He summed up. "She wasn't too eager to share anything to me...but to you, I believe that it will be different. After all, that is what a partner is for?"

"...Of course." Yang nodded, feeling a bit more positive in her ability to accomplish that goal. "Thank you, professor."

And he made way for her to run across the corridor once again.

Jogging onward, she finally arrived at the opening of the library. Passing by several hologram screens and tables, Yang found the silhouette she was searching for. Blake was sitting in front of a virtual computer, typing on the keyboard and perusing through the storage of data provided at the school.

Hiding behind a distant thick bookcase, the blonde pulled out the small laser. She pressed on the device and leaned forward. With immense accuracy accumulated from having played laser with Zwei, Yang aimed the red dot directly onto her partner's screen. Up. Down. Up. Down. And down towards the girl's right hand.

From behind, Yang could see Blake's head move slightly, undoubtedly noticing the presence of the laser glazing over her fingers. She motioned the dot away from the computer and Blake turned around to watch it go. Yang was quick to hide behind a pillar, but when she peeked out to check if her partner had followed, she saw with frustration that the girl had resumed with her work.

'Maybe I should have a bit of fun with this first,' thought Yang as she smirked mischievously to herself. She shone the laser towards the girl's hand. This time her partner noticed it right away. When the dot disappeared, she saw Blake clench a tight fist then became resigned as she looked back at her screen, possibly believing that the light had been a trick of the eye. But the red dot soon appeared right before her eyes, shifting sideways then in swirls, making it impossible to ignore. Yang actually saw her partner slam down both her fists then stand up in great impatience. Realizing that this was an appropriate time to stop, Yang flashed the laser down at the ground, prompting the girl to stomp as she reluctantly chased it. The blonde chuckled at such prominent feline characteristics her partner seldom showed. Though, she felt a bit betrayed as all of her efforts in the past used to distract Blake had been overrun by a simple red dot of light.

Blake had turned around the corner now and Yang waved at her, giving out a happily prolonged, "Hello!"

"What are you-?"

"We need to talk." Dropping the cheery act, Yang grabbed her by the wrist and bustled out of the library, with Blake struggling and protesting under her cobra-like grasp. The blonde dragged the girl inside an isolated lecture hall, locking the doors behind them as they entered. Dashing down the stairway, Yang promptly took a seat on the teacher's desk, both legs up and crossed comfortably as she waited for her partner to join her.

Sighing, Blake traveled down the rows of chairs and walked up to the front of the class, but she did not sit down.

"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop you may as well just save your breath," she said straightaway, pacing back and forth slowly with her arms locked together tightly.

"I don't want you to stop," the blonde corrected her serenely. "I want you to slow down."

"We don't have the luxury to slow down," growled Blake through gritted teeth.

"It's not a luxury." Yang didn't bow down. "It's a necessity."

"The _necessity_ is stopping Torchwick!"

"And we're going to." The blonde tried to ease in on the sensitive topic. She patted down on the area next to her, asking for her partner to come closer. "But first you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say."

Blake seemed to ponder about it for a second and, realizing that it was inevitable, she did as she was told.

"Fine." She perched up on the desk with one of her legs dangling over the sides, waiting in silence for the blonde to talk. Yang breathed in deeply and began.

"Ruby and I grew up in patch, an island just off the coast of Vale. Our parents were huntsmen," Yang explained in a light tone. "Our dad taught at Signal and our mom would take on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose and she was like...super mom."

"Baker of cookies and slayers of giant monsters." She threw a fist in the air, but the enthusiasm behind it was evidently lacking. Her heart sank a few meters as she got to the next chapter of the story. "...And then one day she left for a mission and never came back."

A single eyebrow was raised at her, Blake being both worried and surprised.

"It was tough... Ruby was really torn up but..." She took in a shaky breath. From the corner of her eye, she watched as amber eyes became more placid, shoulders slackening slightly as her partner stared at her with a sense of deep empathy. "I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, you know?"

Yang remembered the expression on her father's face the night that their world had been turned upside down. The blonde found her eyes not being able to focus on a certain spot, simply gazing out into a distant space. "And my dad just kind of...shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why... Summer wasn't the first love he'd lost. She was the second."

And incoming was another huge revelation.

"The first...was _my_ mom." There was a moment of stunned silence as the other girl's mouth fell open slightly and feline eyes refused to leave her, even as she chose to look away out of pain from troublesome thoughts. "He wouldn't tell me everything but I learned that the two of them had been on a team together with Summer and Qrow and that she'd left me with him just after I was born. No one had seen her since."

"...Why did she leave you?" Blake queried quietly.

A deep sigh was let out from her lungs.

"That question..." Yang had to turn away as her emotions got the better of her. When she decided on telling this story to convince Blake to stop her craze, she hadn't expected it to take such a toll on her mind as well. Unpleasant memories and sentiments churned inside her as she faced the empty chalkboard. "Why...? I didn't know the answer but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anybody I could what they knew about her."

Her fingers wrapped around a lone white chalk and began to draw lines unconsciously as her mind drifted to a dreadful day in her childhood. "Then one day... I found something... What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers. Or maybe even my mother."

It had been a single picture, yet it had produced such a rippling effect.

"I waited for dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out." Yang bit down her lips as she reflected upon her childish actions. "I must have walked for hours. I had cuts and bruises, totally exhausted, but I wasn't going to let anything stop me."

She could still hear the noises of the wagon creaking as it rolled on, Ruby's soft snores as she lay unbeknownst to the whole situation, and the howls of eerie wind forewarning them as they trailed off deeper into the forest.

"When we finally got there...I could barely stand... But I didn't care... I had made it." How foolish had she been, thinking that years of unanswered questions and secrets would have been that easily resolved?

"And then I saw them...those burning red eyes..." She grimaced at image of the creatures descending from shadows. "There we were... A toddler asleep in the back of a wagon and a stupid girl too exhausted to even cry out for help. We might as well have been served on a silver platter."

"But as luck would have it, our uncle showed up just in time." Yang observed the drawing her hand had conjured up. It was the mechanical symbol on the side of her uncle's weapon. "My stubbornness should have gotten us killed that night..."

The mood of the room had grown so heavy, so thick that it almost made Yang forget why she was telling this story in the first place.

She heard shifting from behind her as Blake swung her legs around the desk to face her properly.

"Yang, I'm sorry that happened to you..." The blonde shut her eyes, listening intently to her partner's words. "...And I understand what you're trying to tell me..."

But? She definitely sensed a disagreement coming her way.

"But this is different!" Bingo, Yang thought as she cringed her eyes tightly at the rise in volume. "I'm not a child and this isn't just a search for answers, I can't-"

"I told you," Yang cut her off, clenching harder onto the edge of the board. "I'm not telling you to stop. I haven't! To this day I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me...but I will never let that search _control_ me."

"We're going to find the answers we're looking for Blake." She tried to sound persuasive, hoping that this would be enough. "But if we destroy ourselves in the process then what good are we?"

"You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!"

Something snapped inside of Yang at that last phrase. The comment infuriated her to such a strong degree, she could feel the flame burning in her eyes as she whirled around.

"No! _You_ don't understand!" Why was her partner so selfish? Why couldn't Blake understand that they were worried... _she_ was worried about her well-being? Why was this search so important to her that she needed to lose countless numbers of sleeps and meals over it? She wasn't alone in this fight, this war. She had others to rely on. So why was she this insistent on doing it alone?

Yang pointed at the door behind them, shouting furiously. "If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?"

Seething in anger, Blake quickly responded, "I'd fight him!"

"You'd lose!" And Yang found that she had pushed the girl rather harshly by the shoulders.

"I can stop him!" Her partner countered with a weak shove.

"You can't even stop me!" The subsequent thrust went a little harder than she expected. Blake thudded onto the table, both her hands supporting her body as she fell over. Amber eyes flashed up in wild temper, burning almost as brightly as the red irises that were staring down at her.

Blake stood back up, fists clenched at her sides, as she hid her face under her black hair. No, the blonde regretted. She hadn't meant to hurt the girl. She simply wanted to let her partner know that she could unload some of the burden onto her. Moved by the subtle trembling on Blake's shoulders, Yang reduced the gap, advancing forward quickly, and then forced her arms around the shaking girl.

"I'm not asking you to stop." The blonde blinked, the warm hue of lilac returning to her eyes. "But just please... Get some rest."

The uncalled embrace ended after a short moment of quietude. Yang allowed nothing else in the room to catch her attention but the girl in front of her. "...Not just for you, but for the people you care about.

Then deciding that this was enough of the "tough-love" routine, she walked away, leaving behind a highly dumbfounded cat faunus.

"...And if you feel like coming out tomorrow." Yang stopped on her way up the stairs, glancing over her back to present a wink. "I'll save you a dance."

* * *

16:35

"I'll save you a dance? What was I thinking? Why on earth would I say that...and wink at her? That wasn't the mood for any flirting!" Yang was mumbling to herself as she walked down the hallway back to the dormitories. She did not understand the strange sensation in her stomach that was forming after the talk abruptly ended. Now she was left to wallow in doubt and worry, wondering if anything she said would have had a healing effect on her stressed partner.

However, her self-deprecating rant was sliced short. Once she turned the corner, a noisy pair in the hall stopped their discussion and simultaneously looked over at the blonde.

"Yang! I'm so glad you're here." Nora pointed testily at her male partner. "Help me convince Ren that we need to-"

"We are not breaking Jaune's legs," he stated calmly.

"I never said I would do _that_." Nora shouted out in agitation. "All I'm saying is that he needs some good old sense knocked into him!"

"...Uh... What is this about?" Yang asked tiredly, feeling quite drained from her recent conversation.

"Well..." Nora did a quick check around the perimeter, dashing down the halls, peeping into nearby doors, before returning to continue. "You know who Jaune likes, right?"

"Huh..." Yang thought back to the times she shared with the blond boy. "Doesn't he have a massive crush on Weiss?"

"Yes, well, I'll have to speak in code here because it's sort of a secret...but what if somebody else likes Jaune, and Jaune might be too thick to realize it for himself, and this somebody else might be too nice to tell Jaune the truth, and Jaune keeps going after the wrong girl, and somebody else ends up moving on and going after somebody else, then Jaune realizing this too late regrets on never having asked out somebody else! Then everything goes down to hell!"

That had escalated quickly. It took only a few seconds for the blonde to connect the dots. "So... Pyrrha likes Jaune and Jaune's too blind to get the point?"

"What? You knew about this too?" Yang wasn't sure if Nora had done that on purpose to simply have another member support her opinion. "See, Ren? I am not just imagining things! This is what you call a woman's intuition."

"Or an awfully easy code."

Yang chose to avoid the bickering couple and scurried into her room when they were distracted, closing the door behind her.

The space was empty.

The blonde frowned, having expected company with her dear teammates. They couldn't still be at the dance hall; preparations were almost over when she left to chat with Blake. Grabbing her scroll, she went under contacts and connected to her sister's device. It rang for several seconds until a tired voice picked up the call. "Oh, it's you, Yang."

"Weiss?" Yang frowned in confusion. "Where are you guys?"

"We're in the city." There was a loud chatter of mixed voices the heiress was forced to talk over. "Ruby mentioned to me _last minute_ that she still hasn't picked out a dress for tomorrow evening. She's currently gone to buy us some coffee from god knows where."

"You're going dress shopping...with Ruby?" Yang didn't know whether or not to frame this moment for future references or to simply laugh at the thought of Weiss being patient enough to endure Ruby's awkwardness in clothing stores. "My, the two of you have gone far."

"Oh please, we are hardly going to shop at this rate. She keeps making me stop at every sweet store we see."

"Yeah... That's my sister all right." The blonde chuckled slightly into her scroll. "Okay, make sure you find something good for her. Get matching combat skirts too."

"Mph. We'll see you back at the dorms."

* * *

21:37

Yang groaned, shifting in her covers as a bag of chips fell over the bed onto the ground. After having snacked on leftover food instead of eating a proper dinner, Yang was lazing around in her bed, time ticking away slowly with no one around for her to bother. She had slid into her covers, listening to some music on her scroll. And sooner or later, the warmth of the room and her full stomach seemed to have had cradled her into a light slumber without her noticing.

Removing her sister's borrowed headphones off from her ears, she looked around her surroundings in a slight daze. It was dark and the clock on her scroll read that it was almost ten o'clock. Putting the device down with squinted eyes, Yang identified a light snore coming from the shadows. They were more like content purrs. Yang's ears perked up at the familiar adorable sound. Peering over her bed carefully, she rejoiced in the fact that her partner – Blake Belladonna – was finally crawled up in her bed, sleeping soundlessly into the night.

The peaceful moment was interrupted as she heard muffled murmurs echoing out from outside. There were clinks of heels meeting the surface of the floor as the door opened, revealing Ruby and Weiss, who had arrived from their short venture.

"All I'm saying is...I won't be going to the dance with a date. I have too much to focus on at the moment to worry about boys." The heiress seemed to be saying in a huff.

Yang jerked upwards and quickly flashed them a shushing signal, pointing down at the girl below her. Ruby and Weiss immediately slapped their hands over their mouths and tiptoed in carefully. Fortunately, the normally light sleeper seemed to be catching up on a lot of missed hours of rest; Blake did not even stir as Ruby and Weiss changed out of their regular outfits into their comfortable pajamas.

"You did it?" Ruby mouthed to her sister as she crawled up her bed and surveyed her with widened silver eyes.

Yang nodded happily and the leader, extremely ecstatic, rolled over onto her stomach, stuffing her face into her pillow to soften her squeals. Weiss stared up at Yang, and then quietly pointed to something hanging down the front wall. She couldn't quite make out the colors, but she was sure that they were two fine dresses.

Two? The blonde was perplexed. Weiss mentioned that she had formal wear prepared from day one. Yang certainly owned one of her own... It soon dawned upon her on who would be needing the second dress. Yang gave Weiss a double-thumbs up, before falling flatly on her bed as well.

And with a giddy feeling being filled inside her heart, she fell back asleep almost instantly.

* * *

 _She was watching, observing like a silent hawk. How did she ever believe that white was the color of light, the brightest of them all? Because at the moment, the girl captured in her eyes was blinding, shining more than anything else in the crowded room, and she was dressed in a black purplish dress._

 _There was something so unattainable about her, so mysterious. The way she seemed to glow better in the fractured moon light than the morning sun rays. And a semester together could hardly be enough time for her curious thirst to be quenched._

 _The girl was smiling, a light happy expression forming on her face. Her partner looked to be well-rested, having caught up on a night of peaceful sleep. The blonde was relieved and thankful at how enlivened the girl had become once more. They danced, holding each other on the marble floor. Amber eyes glistened at her and when they turned with intertwined hands, there was a moment where the only thing the blonde wanted to do was lean over and kiss her tempting lips._

 _But it passed by with her having done nothing. The song ended too quickly. Yang fought to keep a smiling countenance as she curtsied to her partner before allowing a young man to replace her. She stepped aside, taking a new spot beside her younger sister, who hadn't attempted to dance at all, and Weiss, who appeared extremely satisfied with the whole situation._

 _"_ _I told you she would come," Yang stated simply._

 _"_ _Mission accomplished," remarked Weiss, letting out a tiny, relieved sigh._

 _Yeah, mission accomplished, thought Yang. So why didn't she feel good about herself?_

 _The blonde stared out at the couple on the dance floor, hating the distance cast between them as she was forced to watch Blake laughing alongside Sun, who had undoubtedly sprouted another one of his trademark jokes at her. And for a split second, she thought she saw amber eyes glance over at her, with what sort of sentiment? She could not decipher. Yang clenched her fists, a gesture that went unnoticed by her content peers._

 _"_ _So...what do we do now?"_

 _"_ _Just have fun!" Yang waved off her sister's unsure comment, before heading off to a lone corner, not being able to practice what she had said at all._

 _"_ _I told you she would come..." She whispered faintly to herself. "Just...not with me..."_

.

Yang rose uncomfortably from her bed, as she was swathed by a bay of sunlight and a cool breeze. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she arose to greet the day, a bubbly sense of excitement and joy within. Blinking, she gazed over at the wall, expecting to see what her sister and her partner would be wearing for tonight. But she was met with a blank wall instead.

How strange... Both dresses were gone from the positions they were in last night. But the bunk beds next to her had been emptied, so perhaps Ruby and Weiss had taken them out somewhere for an unknown reason.

Yawning casually, Yang heard the sound of turning pages and smirked. She could count on her partner for many things. Having her back in a fight? Check. Kicking the bad guy's ass? Check. Reading a book on the verge of an apocalypse? Yes, that seemed to be an adequate feature to add onto the list.

Jumping down from the bed, Yang greeted her partner eagerly. "Hey, Blake! Got some sleep?"

Her partner froze, and then stared up from her book, removing it by only a few centimeters, but enough for Yang to catch the dark bags under her eyes. Blake didn't reply and Yang didn't think she needed to by the exhaustion glued onto the girl's face.

"Yikes, never mind..." The blonde deflated slightly. She had thought the girl fell asleep before ten o'clock yesterday.

Her alarm rang across the room. Yang quickly hopped up one bed, shutting off the device to keep her attention fixed upon her partner.

The feline girl was sitting in the exact same position she had seen her in yesterday. Curled up, her legs bent together, peering into a scribbled book with a dangerously solemn expression.

"Blake...?" She was beginning to inquire when the door slammed open and Ruby walked in, a cookie in her mouth, a cup of coffee in hand.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" She yelled incoherently.

"I can't believe you're having _that_ for breakfast again. Haven't you ever heard of a healthy diet?" Yang frowned at the heiress. It was one thing for Ruby to think about eating cookies for breakfast twice in a row after the rebuking that had been going on, but did Weiss really have to point it out in the exact same manner as she did before?

Ruby took a rapid swig. There was a hiss of pain from a burned tongue. A few coffee drops fell onto what had unmistakably been a pristine round carpet.

"...Oh, well, that's going to leave a stain... Aw come on, Weiss! It's on my side of the room!"

"We share the same side of the room, Ruby. Your life-threatening bed is hanging over mine as we speak."

"Well, we could just wait for it to dry and flip it over on its good side."

"...Just leave it like that for now. We've got a lot of things to take care of this morning."

"Guys?" Yang was starting to get the creeps. And she rarely ever did. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" Weiss sent her a quizzical glance.

"The... The coffee and the...the repeating thing." The blonde scowled, not understanding why the heiress was finding such a keen interest in pranks when she previously thought of them to be a remarkable waste of time and energy.

"What repeating thing?" But no, her white-haired teammate seemed to sincerely not understand her accusation. "Yang... Are you okay...? I mean, if you don't feel well, you can rest in the morning. I can ask somebody else to help out."

"Help out?" She questioned, swallowing saliva down her dry throat. "Help out with what?"

"With the dance! I left you guys a note about it in my binder!"

"Oh...right..." Ruby bobbed her head along in mock understanding. "Yeah... I definitely read that."

"...But... But _today_ is the dance...? We...finished decorating the room...yesterday! Remember?" Yang retorted loudly, not finding the joke funny at all.

"...What are you talking about? The dance is tomorrow." Weiss wore an uncomprehending visage. At these words, Yang jerked up. She climbed back up to her bed, turning on her scroll and checking the date for today.

Today. It was supposed to be Sunday. The day of the school dance. So why was the screen lying to her, telling her that it was Saturday?

"What's the matter, sis? You look rattled..." Two silver eyes faced her in concern. So did a pair of electric blue. And even the beautiful hue of golden yellow.

But Yang had no answer. She had no clue what was going on.


	17. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 2)

08:03

Disbelief.

It was sheer disbelief that punched the air out of Yang's lungs. Her mouth snapped shut, and an uncomfortable gulp of saliva ran down her raspy throat. The blonde didn't know what to think or say as her three teammates continued to survey her in concern.

She checked her scroll's screen once again. Could there be a chance that the device was broken? Malfunctioning so that it was still stuck on yesterday's time frame?

"I have to..." Yang reeled off, not having a clear grasp on the situation, definitely not enough to finish whatever she wanted to say. Instead, she simply left the room, ran across to the other side of the hallway and rammed loudly onto the doors of the neighboring team.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Her sister questioned anxiously from behind. But the blonde ignored her, the desire to acquire answers overriding everything else in her mind. After several more desperate knocks, the door finally flung open, revealing a sleepy-looking Jaune standing in his pajamas.

"...Yes?" Droopy blue eyes gazed at her and then at the group formed outside in the corridor. "Can we help you...?"

"What day is it, Jaune?" She asked rapidly.

"Excuse me?"

"What day is it?" She repeated, trying her best not to shout as she emphasized each of her words forcibly.

"Uh... It's...Saturday, isn't it?" He glanced over his shoulders to Ren and Nora, who appeared to be up already. Ren merely nodded silently from his bed. Nora removed her headphones and uttered the same answer.

No. It couldn't be Saturday. Yang could have sworn that yesterday had been Saturday.

She let out a shaky, mirthless laughter as she faced her fellow comrades. "Okay, guys. You got me good. This is payback for the old ice cream made out of mashed potatoes and gravy, right? I figured Ruby would whip something up, but man... How did she get all of you guys to join in on this one? I'm impressed. I expected this from you, Nora, maybe even you, Jaune. But Blake...? And Ren? ...Weiss, really?"

But the stares she received told her that this wasn't a cruel joke to begin with. Something was very wrong. "Come on, guys! Enough is enough!"

Yang feared that she was the one who was crazy when Blake became worried enough to have actually _closed her book mid-read_ to pay her with undivided attention.

The heiress gave her a hesitant stare. "...We aren't doing anything."

There was only one way left to check for certain. Yang dashed forward, leaving everyone else stupefied for a second as she got a head start. She heard panting from behind her, as Weiss and Blake ran alongside her. Ruby sped using her semblance to move in front of her, but the blonde brushed her aside, running and running until she was out of breath, standing behind large black doors of the dance hall.

Thrusting them open, almost breaking the handles in the process, lilac eyes scanned around the room. She expected to be met with a beautiful dance floor, the stage, the walls, even the ceiling, lightened up to celebrate one of the biggest events of their youth. Instead, her sight was dimmed; dreary walls of an old school building greeted her, its gray wallpaper bare and lifeless. "But... I thought...?"

"Yang! Please, tell us what's going on!" Ruby materialized by her side, creating a shower of rose petals behind her. Blake and Weiss quickly joined them at the main entrance.

"We spent the whole day decorating this place!" The blonde finally began to explain as speech became accessible to her again. The brawler walked inside the room, searching around for even a shred of evidence of her memories. "There were balloons and streamers and...the doilies!"

The heiress looked slightly surprised, as she had been keeping that detail a secret from the blonde who she had co-planned the event with.

"And then... Sun and Neptune came in at one point..." Her fingers trailed through her hair, clutching at the strands hard as if doing so would mean that she had a firmer grip on her sanity. "And... We had a nice- We talked, remember?"

This last part was solely directed at Blake, who Yang believed would remember something as emotional and huge as her pouring out her past to her, information she had never shared so liberally with another human being. But amber eyes blinked blankly at her, not recognizing the reference at all.

"What are you saying?" Weiss urged for a better clarification, as this one certainly hadn't helped her understand Yang's state of mind.

"I'm _saying_ that this day already happened!" Yang shouted, very loudly due to her state of confusion, making the other girls flinch at the red flame prepared to ignite in her sockets. "What...? You don't believe me?"

"...We believe you, Yang." Weiss was the first one to take a brave step forward towards the agitated blonde. She spoke in a purposefully pacifying manner. "And I think there's a perfectly good explanation for this."

The blonde's ears perked up at the conclusive tone coming from the heiress. "There is?"

"It's stress."

Yang's shoulders immediately slackened at the weak hypothesis. "...Stress?"

"It must be from the stress of our courses getting heavier and simultaneously having to plan this whole dance..." Weiss gave a subtle wary glance towards Blake's direction as she added in a murmur, "...among other things."

"I don't think Yang's the type of person to get stressed out because of...class." Ruby narrowed her eyes at her partner's lack of tact. "Maybe you ate something funny? Do you remember what you ate last night, sis?"

Yes, she did. She had eaten a bag full of chips and leftover cookies in Ruby's hidden stash. But did what she remember count? Had it even been remotely real?

"I... Yeah... I guess I had some junk food..." The blonde mumbled back, considerably much more subdued.

"Well, if that's the reason, it only proves what I was talking about," said the heiress haughtily. "A huntress should always follow a healthy diet."

"Ugh... Weiss. Do not start this again." The petite leader groaned. "My uncle drinks all the time and he's the best fighter I've ever seen!"

The image of Ruby's uncle being some sort of a drunkard didn't seem to disturb Weiss at all. The heiress simply rolled her eyes in indignation. "I can't wait to meet this uncle of yours."

Very carefully, the blonde tried to process it all in her head. Yesterday felt so real, but no one remembered it ever occurring. No one questioned the fact that today was undoubtedly Saturday, and not Sunday like her memories were telling her it should be. That would have to mean that all of it had been some form of a twisted dream; a lengthy dream, the contents of it purely coincidental to what would happen regarding today. After all, what she had been sprouting for the past couple of minutes did not make any sense.

"...Yeah. You're right... It- It must have been a crazy dream..." Yang eventually muttered, not in order to reassure her friends, but to convince herself. Laughing shakily, the blonde added, "It just felt so real, you know?"

"Of course! I mean, I did once dream about getting up from bed, brushing my teeth, and going to Professor Port's class. But then I woke up and had to do the process all over again. It felt horrible." Ruby shuddered at the very idea of attending that man's class twice in a row. "And besides, I think we would all remember if this day already happened, right?"

Ruby joked lightly, wrapping her arms around her older sister in a calming method that has proven to work effectively in the past. "So Weiss is right for once-"

"Hey!"

"-Let's leave it at that."

Looking thoroughly annoyed, Weiss huffed impatiently, addressing all three individuals in the room. "Well, since we're here already, shall we get started?"

The blonde, who craned her neck to stare at her feline partner, noticed that the two golden irises were already staring fixedly at her. "...Blake? Did you want to stay and help?"

At her words, Blake finally broke off the connection as the trio ogled at her, waiting eagerly for a positive response.

Of course, she didn't take too long to disappoint them. The girl opened up her book again, to a page filled with marginal scribbles, and replied, "Sorry, but I think I'll be heading to the library."

Holding onto her note, this time Blake walked out of the room after giving Yang one last worried glance. "See you guys later."

Ruby and Weiss watched nervously as their teammate left. And once the doors shut quietly behind her exiting figure, the leader let out a minute sigh, muttering in a wounded puppy dog tone. "I guess she's still..."

Weiss nodded glumly and after a hefty pause of silence the two split ways, walking up to different corners of the room, leaving Yang rooted in the middle with the similar dreadful sense of déjà vu.

* * *

12:02

Yang had been sitting at the corner on her own for the past half hour. She had finally puffed up the last green balloon and was attaching it to a bundle of pink, tying them all roughly around the ends before wrapping them around a thick pillar at the back stage. Grabbing multiple rubber skins off the ground - the aftermath of the decorations at times when she had blown or squeezed too hard - Yang threw them into a nearby bin. Massaging her jaws slightly, the blonde glanced over nervously at the pair who were adding the final touches to the ceiling. Weiss was holding onto the bottom of an extremely wobbly ladder while Ruby was exhibiting an extraordinary amount of talent in acrobatics: standing on tiptoes at the top step, with one hand clutching onto the side of the ladder, her right hand was stretching towards a slanted chandelier, trying to strap a streamer onto its lower metal hinges.

The wood creaked as Ruby reached further out, despite a flurry of warnings coming from an anxious Weiss. In the end, their fearless leader dived for it. Hitching the decor onto the hook as well as kicking off of the ladder. Somersaulting a few times in the air, Ruby landed perfectly safe on the ground, her two hands raised up in triumph of her victory. "And...done!"

"Ruby!" Weiss chastised the girl's actions as she struggled to steady the ladder that was four times her own height. "Could you try to be more careful next time?"

Feeling a bit uneasy again, Yang chose to intervene on the conversation. "Hey! You guys want to go grab some lunch?"

"...Now?" The heiress frowned in evident disapproval. "But we're not done with the streamers."

"Yes! I'm starving!" The leader thought differently, pulling Weiss by her unruffled collar and dragging her through the front door. Yang sighed in relief as she checked her scroll. It was currently 12:05. "Yesterday" they had gone to lunch around one o'clock. Hopefully, this meant that she wouldn't encounter any other weird similar events. After all, Ruby's stunt off the ladder seemed much too familiar for her taste. She remembered clapping at her landing the first time.

At Ruby's beckoning call, Yang followed the two out, feeling tired and hungry. The day so far had been too strange. The blonde did have her fair share of fantasy in her life, mostly because she was training to become a huntress, fighting bad guys and the creatures of Grimm. But even so, nothing she had encountered in the past could even amount to what was happening now. As they walked inside the dining hall, Yang caught the scent of spaghetti and meatballs, the special for today. If the lumpy pasta hadn't triggered a part of her memory, the talk between her other teammates certainly did.

"So, Weiss, who _are_ you going to the dance with?" Ruby wore a slightly mischievous grin as she sat across from Weiss at their usual table. Yang took the unoccupied seat next to her sister, glancing back and forth between the two of them as the heiress answered.

"I don't feel the need to share," said Weiss tersely.

"Aw come on!" Ruby whined. "I'm your best friend!"

Yang almost choked on her food. A meatball slid off her fork and rolled onto her plate as she coughed, battling the queasiness rising in her stomach once again.

Weiss friskily passed her a bottle of water as she narrowed her eyes, possibly out of true annoyance, or possibly trying to deny the aforementioned statement to such a strong degree that she forced herself to appear greatly irked. "Since when?"

"Since now! So tell me who you're going with!" The leader shook her arms impatiently. "It's not Jaune, right?"

"After that song proposal last night?" Weiss scoffed. "I don't think so."

"Then who is it?" The girl bounced in her seat eagerly.

"...Let's just say I've got someone in mind." The heiress turned her head sideways, an action which told the leader that her white-haired partner was simply to shy to tell the truth. Still wearing a cheeky grin, Ruby seemed quite ready to pry the information out of her when she was stopped by Yang's sudden jerking movement as she sprung up from the table.

"Did we...uh... Didn't we have this conversation before?" The blonde asked in a hesitant fashion, so unlike her own, staring at the other two's befuddled expressions.

"Well...yeah." Ruby finally replied, giving the heiress a slightly annoyed gesture. "But Weiss didn't tell us anything last time either."

That wasn't what Yang meant at all.

"I... I have to go." The blonde muttered as she began to walk away from her friends. The two of them were casting her another worried glance.

"But you hardly touched your food," Weiss argued, looking down at the blonde's barely nibbled plate.

"I'm not hungry!" Yang bellowed to the figures behind her, not being able to take it any longer as she ran off into the opposite direction. They were shouting something at her, but she didn't care. She needed to clear her head.

Breathing in and out deeply, the blonde circled around the campus a couple times, running different ideas through her mind. She had spent the entirety of yesterday morning in the dance hall, decorating the walls and blowing up balloons. After lunch, she had returned to the same setting to set up the audio equipment upon Weiss's request. Then after Sun and Neptune's visit, she had carried out her planned conversation with Blake, which had worked, leading to a sleeping kitten under the top bunk bed.

Yet, she had woken up to the same day. And more or less, everything was happening the way it had been yesterday.

It could have been a dream. That was the most obvious and logical answer. But how could that be? A dream couldn't be that vivid, that clear in her mind. She couldn't have watched it all happen, every gesture, every movement. She couldn't have heard every word, every intonation exactly in the way they would be spoken.

...Unless it wasn't a normal dream, a voice echoed in Yang's mind.

What do you mean it wasn't a normal dream, the blonde retaliated, starting up a fierce conversation with herself.

Face it, you know how everything will turn out tonight. You saw it all happen. Maybe, you had a vision of the future.

It was stupid, but Yang found herself being convinced by her own conjecture. Then she shook her head and stopped. Don't be ridiculous! Yang nearly shouted out loud, reproving herself. Her semblance was retaliation, not clairvoyance.

...But she had definitely seen it all take place before.

It was either she was right or she was crazy. Yang wanted to believe that it was the former. And that meant that there was an important task she would have to do. She needed more evidence. Pulling out her digital device, she saw that the time now read 12:17. Concentrating hard, she tried to recapture the events from "yesterday." They had come to lunch early upon her request, there wasn't anything she could do about that. But if she let time run at its natural course, Sun and Neptune would appear by the dance hall before four. That would provide her with another opportunity.

Exhausted from her own introspection, Yang sank down, leaning at a blank wall of the school, and stared up at the cloudless blue sky. Her pants steadying back into even breaths as she closed her eyes, trying to let her thoughts depart from chaos.

* * *

 _"You're leaving early."_

 _The soft words made her halt in the darkness. Sighing, Yang turned around, waving her two uncomfortable heels in the air, which she had taken off as soon as she left the dance floor. "Well, I'm here without a date, so I'm entitled to leave early."_

 _Her partner, in that dazzling dark dress of hers, blinked stupidly at her. "...You didn't have a date?"_

 _"Took you long enough to notice." The response had come out more bitingly than the blonde expected._

 _"...I'm sorry." Blake fidgeted in her steps, slowing her pace slightly as she stared at the ground guiltily. "I...really haven't been much of a friend lately."_

 _You're right. You haven't been a good friend, Yang thought bitterly. But she didn't want her to be a good friend. Yang wanted her to be something much more than that._

 _"If I had asked you first... Would you have said yes?"_

 _No matter how quietly she had whispered it, Blake froze solid on the spot. The fabric on top of her head giving off a heightened twitch._

 _Her partner was a cat-faunus. There was no way that her words had gone unheard with those sensitive ears, even if they were hidden under that adorable black bow. Whipping up a convincing grin, Yang added playfully, "Just kidding! Like I'd let you stomp all over my feet for that long. You're a terrible dancer, Blake."_

 _"Why thank you." The girl smirked, taking the tease lightly as she stared off at the moon. The blonde watched her pale complexion gloom even whiter in the night while she hid away a forlorn expression that portrayed the state of her own heart._

 _"But you don't understand." Her mouth yearned to say. "I would dance with you all night, if you'd only let me."_

 _._

Eyelids snapped open. Loud chatters were passing her way and Yang squinted around, seeing a couple students walking outside, laughing and talking to themselves. That was unusual, Yang groaned. She felt incredibly tired today, and yet she was sure she had gotten an abundant amount of sleep the night before.

Her mind shook off the dream she could no longer remember and got up to her feet. Nearby posters, advertising the day of the school dance, brought her back into reality. Checking the time, Yang groaned, noting that it was now five minutes before four o'clock. If she ran all the way from here though, she could probably make it.

Dashing down the stoned pavements, hearing the birds chirping and feeling the rays of the evening sun pour onto her, the blonde came to an abrupt halt, concealing herself within a compact bush as she saw two male figures - one with pale yellow hair and one with bright blue - walk into the dance hall. Running, as quietly as she could, she hid behind the door and carefully opened it, barely enough to create a small opening for her to press her ear against. Folding her legs, she lowered her body, in case her easily distinguishable hair caught the attention of the individuals inside the room.

"...You ladies excited for dress up?" She heard Sun's voice call out.

"Yeah right." She heard her sister scoff at his remark.

"What are you two wearing?" The heiress asked in good manners.

"Uh... This?"

Yang peeked in and saw the entertaining looks of disbelief on her friends' faces as the monkey faunus pointed to the front of his opened shirt.

Neptune habitually butted in, "Ignore him, for he knows not what he says."

"Hey! I may have moved to Mistral but I grew up in Vacuo. It's not exactly a shirt or tie kind of place."

"Right..." drawled Weiss's voice, sounding very unimpressed. The blonde swallowed thickly, forcing the knot in her throat to untangle as she soaked up every word and gesture of her friends, puzzlement filling her inner sides again as she realized that she could practically hear their speech ringing in her mind before it even happened.

"...Hey, where's your cool blonde friend?" Neptune suddenly asked, as if the brawler's absence had only just occurred to him. The mentioned girl frowned. That hadn't been a part of the conversation yesterday. But it was reasonable, seeing as she wasn't present there this time around.

"We're not so sure..." The heiress let out a short sigh. "She ran off somewhere during lunch."

"I tried calling her scroll, but she didn't answer," a glum voice also contributed.

Yang checked her device upon hearing this and saw that there had been two missed calls from her younger sibling. Little did Ruby know, she had muted her scroll ever since this morning.

"Now we have two people to worry about..." Ruby murmured quite sadly.

"Oh...uh...so... Does that mean Blake's still?" There was a short pause and Yang had to concentrate harder to hear his next words. "Is she still being all...you know...Blake-y?"

"Obviously."

Their leader gloomily chimed in, "I still can't think of a way to change her mind!"

"You guys think...maybe I should try talking to her again?" At his words, Yang froze on the spot. There were mixed murmurs of agreement running through the background as the blonde quickly whipped up her scroll and redialed the first number on her contacts list. As she rang, a noisy tune was emitted from inside the room. Ruby, after checking who the connection was coming from, approved the incoming call quite quickly.

"Hello?" Ruby answered, and Yang narrowly watched Weiss lean forward slightly to hear her words.

"Hey! Ruby, it's me." The blonde started in an offhanded jovial tone.

"Where are you, Yang?" Her sister huffed, cutting through the friendly greetings. "You just disappeared at lunch without a word!"

"It's because I..." She thought quickly on her feet. "I had a great idea on how to change Blake's mind! So uh... Could you get somebody else to cover for me?"

"What are you going to do?" The question was given with much curiosity.

"Let me try it out first, and then I'll explain." Yang stood up from her crouched position. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay..." Ruby sounded dissatisfied, but convinced enough to let her sister off the hook. "Bye."

The line died as the two sisters shut their scrolls off concurrently. Yang stared down at the black screen and sighed: She would explain herself better afterwards... if she could...and the two of them wouldn't be able to pass it off as another coincidental dream again. The last thing Yang heard was a "So, Sun, Neptune. How would you two like to help us?" from the heiress before she tightly closed the front entrance and dashed away from the building towards their living quarters.

The evidence had compiled itself enough. And it was becoming more and more clear to Yang. She had seen the future of today. She knew exactly how everything was going to turn out. And with this knowledge, she could use it to its greatest potential. There were an endless amount of possibilities she could explore...but first...the most crucial one hung over her head.

Time to put the theory to the test, Yang resolved, rummaging through her desk at the dormitories until she found the metallic laser pointer she had been searching for. And this time, choosing a more roundabout path to maneuver past Professor Ozpin along the way, Yang stormed in straight towards the library, ready to repeat her confrontation with Blake.

* * *

16:26

The last ten minutes had past by in a blur. Yang, who felt odd, did not try to show it as she carried out yet another heart-to-heart with Blake. This time, having points of references to play off of, the talk wasn't too hard to initiate. Every painstaking detail of her family story had been easier to handle as her emotions were distracted while she tried to remember the exact dialogue from before. They had whizzed past the introductions, the tragic accident, then arrived at the end of Yang's desperate attempts at reuniting with her mother. In fact, now they were almost nearing towards its end.

"...Yang, I'm sorry that happened to you... And I understand what you're trying to tell me..."

The blonde closed her eyes, performing a couple of silent breathing practices as she prepared for what was coming next.

"But this is different!" Oh boy, Yang thought, here we go again. "I'm not a child and this isn't just a search for answers, I can't-"

"I told you," said the blonde soothingly. "I'm not telling you to stop. I mean, I haven't stopped looking for answers about my mom! But I won't ever let that search _control_ me again. Not everything has to be done right now, especially at the expense of your own health."

"You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!"

This time, Yang fought to stay in control of the flame yearning to burn. Keeping the cool shade of lilac, Yang steered a hard glance towards her distressed partner. The last sentence came out in a bizarre, restrained fashion. "Why can't _you_ understand that I don't want to watch you get hurt."

According to her fresh memory, there had been a few pushes made by this point, as the conversation turned a bit ugly for a small fraction of time. Would the pushes be mandatory for everything to work out the way they should? To do it now though seemed out of context and unnecessarily harsh. Besides, even if they hadn't elicited the same response, her improvised words still managed to produce a mighty good reaction. The blonde could have laughed at the slack-jawed visage on her normally composed partner. But she knew better than that. After all, to her partner, who was undoubtedly experiencing this verbal encounter for the first time, was completely serious. For Yang, it was plain weird.

Now, the embrace that had been made yesterday was beautiful. Neither awkward nor peculiar as it had been a sort of spur of the moment action for the blonde. However, circumstances have changed. And although it was the exact same event that was unfolding, for Yang it was different. It was as if now the pressure of having to hug her partner was looming above her.

"You... You don't need to worry about me." Blake finally said quietly, the blunt statement not meaning to offend or hurt the blonde, despite it having done so.

Yang frowned, understanding that her having gone off script must have evoked a different response from her partner. And she did not like it at all. "I will always worry about you, Blake, even if you don't want me to. Because you are my partner and my friend and I care about you. A lot."

Long eyelashes swept up and down as amber irises glimmered at her when she continued. "We're going to do everything we can to find out what's going on. But until then, get some rest. Not just for yourself, but for me... Me, and you know, and the people that care about you."

Yang gave out a self-conscious cough as Blake simply stared at her, an unreadable expression brewing on her feline features.

"...Um... So..." The blonde outstretched her arms and smiled weakly. "Hug?"

Yang half-expected Blake to refuse. But to her surprise, her partner drew out a faint chuckle and complied, staying still as she allowed the blonde to awkwardly grab her around the arms and pull her into a blissful eight-second hug.

"...Promise me you'll think about what I said, okay?"

"...Okay..." She allowed Blake's reply to tickle her left ear before they broke apart. Reluctantly, Yang lifted herself off the teacher's desk. Shooting one last lingering glance at her calmed partner, Yang bit back a flirtatious remark and instead chose to race out the door, hiding her heated face.

Not bothering to close the door behind her, she immediately dove behind a nearby pillar and kept an eye out around the corner. It took several more minutes, but eventually - to her relief - Yang saw the unmistakable dark figure of her partner drifting out of the lecture room, towards an empty corridor of the school.

Upon seeing this, Yang turned on her heel and sprinted across the courtyards, to the place she last remembered being. Passing by groups of people and foreign students from visiting schools, she arrived back at the Beacon dormitories. Trailing up a flight of stairs, she careened around the pointed walls, knowing that she would soon run into-

"Yang! I'm so glad you're here!" Nora's happy yet irritated voice reached her. "Help me convince Ren that we need to-"

"I think Pyrrha should suck it up and tell Jaune how she feels," the blonde proclaimed before the girl could finish her sentence and before Ren could intervene. She left a deeply satisfied but shocked Nora and a bemused Ren with more emotion than she had ever caught him wearing.

"See! I told you, Ren!" There were continuing shouts of triumph being induced out of her wild friend as Yang held her tongue, fighting off a small fit of laughter as she closed her room door behind her.

Sitting down on Blake's bed, she pondered deeply. What had she done next... She had returned to their room, hoping to rest, and she had found it to be empty... Then wondering where her two teammates had gone... She had called her sister on her scroll! Obedient to her own thoughts, Yang fished out her device once again and pressed the call button. It took a few seconds but the heiress answered.

"Oh, it's you, Yang."

"Hey, Weiss. Where are you guys?" She asked happily, even though she was fully aware of where they would be.

"We're in the city." The same loud chatter of noise entered her eardrums. "Ruby mentioned to me _last minute_ that she still hasn't picked out a dress for tomorrow evening. She's currently gone to buy us some coffee from god knows where."

"Dress shopping with Ruby." Yang laughed, the image of her sister and Weiss together in a clothing shop being funny, even after hearing it for the second time. "That should be fun."

"Oh please, we are hardly going to shop at this rate. She keeps making me stop at every sweet store we see," the heiress grumbled impatiently.

"Relax. You'll find the dress," said Yang, with good humor. "I'll see you back at the dorms then?"

"Mph. All right."

* * *

20:18

Yang had been lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, twiddling her thumbs, as the door of their living room finally creaked open.

True to her nature, Blake walked in noiselessly, almost a shadow prowling at night. Of course, even her stealth couldn't get past Yang today. The blonde jolted upwards, her sudden zombie-like movement catching her partner off-guard as the cat-girl evidently jumped a few feet into the air.

"Hey, Blake!" Yang laughed at the sight of her partner cowering for a few seconds before letting down her defenses.

Her golden eyes narrowed in confusion. "Were you waiting for me?"

"No! Not at all!" The blonde grinned broadly as she changed the subject. "What are you doing here? Finally got sick of the old library?"

"I was..." Her partner mumbled sheepishly, as if she had been recently caught doing something very shameful. "I was going to get some sleep."

Yang simply smiled at her reaction for a moment, then laid back on her mattress, humming contently as the sides of her bed shook slightly when her partner crawled into the lower bunk.

"...Are you better now?" Blake asked from below.

"Huh? What are you talking about...?"

"This morning..." Her words trailed off and the blonde understood what she was hinting about.

"I'm fine now," replied the brawler. After all, it had worked. Her plan had been successful. The only task remaining was making her vision intelligible to others. Surely, Weiss would take her more seriously after the feats she had accomplished on such precise prior knowledge? After all, by knowing exactly what to say, Yang had managed to convince her stubborn faunus friend to attend the-

"Hey... Blake...?" A sudden thought popped into her head, a question that hadn't been answered as of yet. "Does this mean you're going to the dance?"

"...I don't know" came an honest reply.

"You... Uh..." Yang hesitated as she rolled onto her side. "You should come."

"I know you guys want me to..." Blake muttered. "But it doesn't seem like something I would enjoy."

"No way! Anything's fun if you go with friends." The blonde tried to be persuasive as usual.

There was a period of silence in between. Yang heard the soft breathing of her partner, and afterwards Blake spoke in a hushed voice, syllables growing fainter and slower from impending sleep.

"...Yang?"

"Uh huh?"

"I don't own a dress," she confessed in a whisper.

"Don't worry about that." The blonde chuckled softly, then said cogently at the unexpected fret. "I'm pretty sure Weiss has another dress you can borrow."

"...Mhm..."

The gap was instilled with peaceful tranquility once again. The window was slightly opened as usual and the night breeze traveled upwards, passing by her front bangs. Yang finally puckered up the courage and decided to ask something that had been at the back of her mind. "Hey, Blake? ...Are you going to the dance with Sun?"

There wasn't even a grunt of reply.

"...Blake?"

The brawler leaned over the bedside and carefully peered down at the figure lying below. Blake was in a fetal position, her body curled up in her blankets, her right cheek resting on the soft fabric of her pillow as she fell deeper into slumber. Yang felt her heart skip a beat as she watched.

* * *

21:37

The night was about to catch up to Yang when she heard a familiar set of thumping footsteps from outside the hallway. Jolting upwards, Yang blew off her blanket covers and jumped out of her bed, crash-landing as quietly as she could, attempting not to disturb the soft kitten purrs coming from her sleeping partner's form.

Quickly, Yang lunged for the doorknob before it could turn. Ruby and Weiss were standing right outside, talking, and was just about to open the door themselves when they saw the blonde emerge from it.

"All I'm saying is... I won't be going to the dance with a- Yang?" Weiss stopped mid-conversation and turned her attention quizzically to the brawler who closed the door behind her, blocking access to the entry.

"I have to tell you guys something," Yang announced right away.

"...Um... Okay, what is it?" Ruby queried after exchanging a short look with the heiress.

"I think I saw the future."

The hall was filled with such an empty silence that the three could hear the snores coming from the other side of the door in team JNPR's room. Weiss stood there, holding a large shopping bag, staring perplexedly at the blonde. And Ruby, with her mouth hung open, watched her sister for any visible signs of this being a prank. But the leader found that her sibling was being completely serious.

"Is this about the dream you had last night?" Ruby began tentatively.

"Yes! But it...it wasn't a dream." Yang growled, scratching the back of head, wishing she could have sorted this out better before they came along. "Or if it was, it wasn't a _normal_ dream."

"What do you mean...you saw the future?" A skeptical blue gaze met her and Yang held out her two hands in defense.

"Listen, just listen to what I have to say," Yang attempted to explain. "So I wake up this morning, and you guys are having the exact same conversation I remembered hearing yesterday. You spilled your coffee on the carpet, Blake left the room, and we went over to the dance hall. All of which I remember happening the day before."

"But... How is that possible?" The heiress's uncertainty deepened.

"Sun and Neptune came in and they asked if you were excited for dress up, right?" The blonde pointed out a fact that she should not know since she had been vacant at the time. "And then Sun asked if Blake was still being, in his terms, Blake-y?"

Ruby's eyes widened several inches and Weiss's eyebrows rose a few as well. "I know this, because I saw it happen. I was there with you guys, setting up the audio the first time."

"That... That could be a coincidence?"

"No! I remember it. It was word for word, exactly the same." The blonde approached them, taking a abrasive step forward as she made desperate attempts to be lucid. "That's not all! After that, I went to look for Blake to have that talk. And I did...exactly what I remembered doing yesterday, because I knew it would work! Because last night, when I woke up before you guys came back from shopping, I saw Blake sleeping in her bed!"

"...Woah," came a mark of awe, indicating to the blonde that her sister was ready to take in the load of information she was sprouting out. Nonetheless, Weiss still seemed skeptical.

"You bought two dresses, right?" The blonde pointed at the shopping bag in her hand. "One for Ruby and one for Blake."

"How did you-"

"Because I saw it happen yesterday! It wasn't just a dream!" She snapped.

"This- This is huge, sis!" Ruby finally recovered from her shock and bounded upwards slightly, appearing excited. "Imagine what you can do with this power! It could be so useful in a fight-"

"Or incredibly dangerous." Weiss cut in, bursting the sibling's innocent bubble. Yang frowned at her, not understanding, as sharp blue irises stared at her in earnest worry. "Yang, if what you're telling us is true, then this is...really serious. I think you should go talk to Professor Ozpin about it. I've never heard of somebody's semblance changing like that."

Yang stared at her fists, still feeling the fire burning inside her body, the strength that resonated in her veins. "I don't think this was my semblance, I-"

But abruptly, her head was hit with a strong wave of vertigo. Yang stumbled in her steps and was forced to fall onto the floor, clutching her head that began to ring heavily in discourse.

"Yang?" A terrified voice reached her from the distance as the blonde slowly began to feel her consciousness slip away. She felt tired, so tired.

Resting her head up on the wall, she felt sleep rapidly take over her body. What was happening? Was she about to have another episode?

The last thing she remembered was her teammates' concerned faces towering over her before utter blackness descended.

Then the blonde was unpleasantly woken up to meet the bland ceiling of their dorm room. The same incessant buzzing from her scroll alarm, the soft sound of turning pages, and the door crashing loudly open, followed by a "Good morning, team RWBY!"

Only two things had changed: The added feature of a massive headache and the dawning realization, as the blonde watched her sister spill coffee for the third time, that whatever it was that was happening to her, it wasn't a gift, but a curse. Because it grew ever more apparent to her that she had't seen a vision of the future, she was stuck in time.


	18. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 3)

_"What the hell is going on?"_

 _"Yang? What's wrong? You look rattled..."_

 _..._

 _"Professor Ozpin. I- I have something to ask you..."_

 _..._

 _"Blake... You have to believe me. Please... I can't stand this anymore."_

 _"I believe you, Yang. Of course, I believe you."_

 _"...But will you remember?"_

 _..._

* * *

07:58

Lilac eyes opened to stare up at a blank ceiling. She didn't need to bother checking her scroll to know that it was exactly two minutes before eight o'clock in the morning. As it had been yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before that...since everyday had become the same grueling process.

Yang lied still, feeling the cool breeze flooding into the dorm room through the window left slightly ajar. There was a small crinkling sound of pages being turned from underneath her. Lying on the top bunk bed, Yang was fully aware that the noises belonged to her partner in training, undoubtedly obsessing over the same book she had been consistently reading for the past week.

Rolling over onto her right side, the blonde saw that the beds across from them were already made; customarily, one messily and the other perfectly. Shifting around to face the wall again, Yang sighed. The alarm on her scroll began to beep incessantly. Begrudgingly, the blonde took the gadget from underneath her pillow and shut off the device completely. Just a little longer now, she predicted and began a mental countdown.

Five, four, three, two, one...

And at the mark where the zero would have fallen, the door banged open widely. Ruby, her younger sibling, strolled in with a cookie hanging out of her mouth and a hot mug of coffee in her hands. Weiss was closely behind her, carrying a steaming cup of tea.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" The petite leader shouted with her voice slightly muffled as she bit onto her crumbling snack.

"I can't believe you're having _that_ for breakfast again. Haven't you ever heard of a healthy diet?" The heiress nagged on.

Yang waited, and undoubtedly heard the stubborn pause in which her sister would have ignored her partner's comment. Then there was the tiny hiss of pain. The brawler knew that Ruby's hand would have slipped after burning her tongue and that the girl would have spilled a bit of coffee onto the round carpet, earning herself a leveled glare from the heiress.

"...Oh, well, that's going to leave a stain..." The blonde said silently, mimicking Ruby's high-pitched excuses. "Aw come on, Weiss! It's on my side of the room!"

"We share the same side of the room, Ruby." Yang mouthed alongside Weiss, who was countering in a vexed manner. "Your life-threatening bed is hanging over mine as we speak."

"Well, we could wait for it to dry and flip it over on its good side."

There was a deep intake and output of breath, through which Weiss let out her frustration. "Just leave it like that for now. We've got a lot of things to take care of this morning."

Yang was sure Ruby was offering the heiress one of her most blank and innocently ignorant stares of all time.

"We need to get the ballroom ready for the dance, remember?" Even with her back turned, she could feel the girl's scathing glares. "I left you guys a note about it in my binder."

"Oh...right... Yeah... I definitely read that." And the less than enthusiastic remark evoked another sharp comeback from the heiress. Yang let out an incoherent grumble, slamming her pillow over her head trying to drown out the din, so tired of having to hear this argument every morning. Her brightly trained ears caught onto the subtle movement from below and Yang discerned the squeaks of bed-springs as her companion with raven black hair stood up from her sitting position.

Book in hand, and an appearance of exhaustion that never left, the girl shortly glanced above from her notes towards her shouting teammates and announced quietly, "I'll be heading to the library."

After a short grunt of acknowledgment at the other two's hesitant responses, she muttered, "I'll see you guys later."

The blonde knew that Blake would keep her nose stuck in her book as she left the room without another word, and the others, momentarily forgetting about the medium-sized spot on the floor, would noiselessly follow the back of her exiting figure. And Yang liked to imagine that her partner looked back at least once to see her supposedly sleeping figure before vanishing from the room completely.

Having their banter cut abruptly short, Ruby and Weiss became noticeably subdued.

"I guess she's still..." murmured Ruby.

The following silence that engulfed them told Yang that they were both simmering in their own worry and concern over the cat-faunus. Which, not too long after, was broken by a shrill shout, a direct result of Yang not having moved a single muscle ever since her sister had burst into the room. Not realizing that her older sibling was already awake, Ruby continued to yell, "Come on, Yang! It's time to get up!"

The same feeling of grogginess leftover from the night's sleep left a weight on her as usual. Sighing, Yang ripped off the covers around her legs as she was forced to face this day once again. She steered around, allowing her feet to hang over the side of her mattress as she gazed down at her two teammates, recognizing the same loving silver orbs and the slightly annoyed hue of electric blue.

"I'm up. I'm up." The blonde stated indistinctly while dropping straight onto the solid ground. She fought to keep back a scowl, causing her brows to furrow and scrunch together in concentration.

Weiss observed her, tight-lipped, and then decided to point out candidly, "You look awfully tired this morning."

"What?" At her comment, Ruby jolted up and circled around her family member, playing the sister-slash-doctor role. "Are you okay? Are you sick? Do you need some more rest?"

"I'm fine." Yang passed by them as she approached the drawer next to the beds. She pulled out a metallic object in advance, making sure that her back was turned towards her teammates. The blonde pocketed the laser pointer into her jacket. Pivoting around, she carelessly patted Ruby on the head, as she usually did with sisterly affection. "Let's get going then."

Let's go decorate a room that would come to nothing, make conversations that would not have changed from the night before, and force me to live this excruciatingly painful and boring day once again! Yang thought it best to edit this out of her speech.

"All right. I've made a succinct list we should follow for today." The heiress pulled out a stapled group of parchment that appeared to have materialized from nowhere. "And if we're lucky-"

"Succinct?" Ruby screeched as she ran her fingers over the paper, counting the number of sheets. "Weiss! This is nine pages long!"

"-And if we're lucky, we should be finishing around noon."

Yang inwardly scoffed, knowing fully well that the girl's so-called perfect schedule was hardly enough to cover for her laziness and Ruby's clumsiness. Even if the blonde dedicated the entirety of her efforts, they always finished around four. The blonde massaged her temples, mulling over another dull headache that seemed to come at her in a sporadic fashion. Even as she succeeded in drowning out the talk, it was still possible for her to hear the exact words they were speaking in her mind.

She wasn't clairvoyant, nor were her teammates predictable to that extent. Yang knew this to be true because she had been stuck in a loop hole for quite some time. And she wasn't speaking figuratively.

This time frame, this one particular day of their second semester at Beacon, the Saturday before the night of the school dance, had been repeating itself for the past eight days. And no one else seemed to notice except for her.

* * *

12:02

Walking around the campus, Yang saw several posters hung up walls, advertising the intercontinental school dance event that she would never have the chance to attend. How ironic was it that she, the co-planner of the occasion, wouldn't be able to see how it turned out?

Exhaling a long defeated groan, the blonde sat down at a quiet spot – a park bench standing near an ornate garden at Beacon Academy.

Yang had long since given up on figuring out what was happening to her. It was as if time forgot about its role in life. She simply welcomed one afternoon, carried out the way she normally she would, and then arose the following morning, eagerly expecting the date of the school dance, but instead discovering that the "next day" that had come wasn't really the next day at all.

The blonde found herself waking up, at the exact same time, 7:58 in the morning, to face the exact same day. Everyone around her would recycle their conversations and become mirror images of their former selves, making identical gestures, hand movements, and facial expressions.

At first, Yang thought she had gone crazy, that during her period of slumber she must have fallen off the bed and hit her head hard on the floor. Otherwise, there was no other logical explanation to her predicament. If there was a perfectly clear answer, she hadn't been able to find it.

And if there was a remote chance that she wasn't already crazy, she was slowly beginning to be driven insane anyway. All was reset, except for her memory, which remained sharply intact. It could have been a blessing...that is what she initially thought. But to be the only one to realize what was happening. To be the only one to endure countless days of the same regimen, it appeared to be a curse with no getaway path in sight.

At least for everyone else, they had a tomorrow to look forward to. Yang, who knew the contrary, felt more and more extinguished each passing day.

"Miss Yang Xiao Long." She jolted up at the sudden mentioning of her name. A relaxed male voice called out to her from behind, in its usual powerful yet gentle undertone. "Enjoying the nice day, I presume?"

"Professor Ozpin," the blonde returned as she pivoted around in her seat to stare up at the headmaster. Oh great, drawled Yang from the inside, it was him again. By all means, she didn't mean to be rude, but each time she decided to ditch the ballroom decors and come out here for some time alone, her headmaster mysteriously showed up by her side. It seemed there would never be any more "firsts" in her life.

He was giving her a slightly curious look, silently questioning her reason for being out without the company of her friends like she normally does. Realizing that he was waiting for her reply, she nodded slowly.

"I suppose you are all very excited for the upcoming events?" He casually prompted, perhaps in order to loosen up the notable tension built up in her shoulders. "I must say... You and Miss Schnee have done a wonderful job in organizing the dance. Team CFVY would have been very proud of how the two of you took charge."

She merely nodded glumly at his futile compliment.

"...Perhaps I am overstepping personal boundaries when I say this, but I'm getting a sense that you are troubled about something," the man commented rather calmly, leaning on his cane as he stood, sipping on a fresh cup of coffee in a mug that bore the school emblem.

"You have no idea..." Yang muttered under her breath.

He hummed idly in response. "Were you unable to acquire a date to the dance?"

"It's really not that simple," she said thickly, though still attempting to not sound too rude. "Maybe I just woke up this morning and felt like doing nothing."

"Sometimes there are days when one doesn't feel like doing anything at all." He agreed solemnly. "I know I've had my fair share of those in the past."

"Yeah... I guess this is just one of them.." One of many, Yang secretly added in silence.

Piercing thin brown eyes narrowed at her, searching for the truth. "...Miss Long, the teachers here at Beacon Academy are not here to solely provide you with the knowledge of fighting monsters. We are also here to guide the students, whenever they feel doubts or troubles. So... If you ever feel the need to ask or tell me anything... You need not hesitate to do so."

"Professor." She decided to not to dawdle as she prevented him from any further verbal deliverance. "Do you remember what we talked about a few days ago?"

He stared at her, giving her a peculiar look that did not offer any cracks for interpretation. "...I'm sorry, but I don't think I recall such a meeting."

"...Then...that's all I need to know. Thank you, Professor. But there's nothing you can do to help," she replied flatly, and added the last part in an inaudible whisper. "Because we've had this conversation before..."

And after a short exchange of despondent looks, and confused frowns on his part, Yang bid goodbye to him respectfully and quickly sped off towards the opposite direction, decelerating only after having reached the front entrance of the cafeteria.

Her hand was already holding out her scroll, knowing that exactly about now the heiress would be attempting to reach her in a huffy fit. Her fingers soon felt the vibrations and Yang connected the call without even checking the screen to see who the caller was. "Hey, Weiss."

"Where in the world are you?" Neither of them bothered with any pleasant greetings as the heiress shouted into her eardrums. "You left an hour ago saying that you wanted to borrow an air pump from Professor Port for the balloons!"

"Oh yeah. Turns out he didn't have one, so I'm going around the campus looking for one," Yang stated with nonchalance.

There was a distinctly infuriated grumble. "Can't you just use your mouth?"

"And risk chapping these beautiful lips? I don't think so."

"Oh ha-ha. Very funny. If you're not back here in five minutes, I'm sending out a search party." Search party - meaning Ruby - which meant that she still had a couple hours to spare before her younger sister would stumble upon her by accident.

"Good luck with that," the blonde wanted to say, but instead she decided to be civil and simply ended the call with a sigh. If she wanted complete privacy, Yang would have to simply leave the school grounds. She didn't know how Blake managed to find complete solitude behind these closed walls.

As she walked inside the building, the blonde picked up an apple and some bread at the lunch table. Spaghetti and meatballs sounded like a terrible idea, nine days in a row. She didn't find herself to be that hungry anyway. Lingering around the courtyards, biting into her red fruit, she went over the schedule that had been incessantly drilled into her head.

Yang could return to the dance hall and help Weiss with the frilly decorations. But after repeating the same process for far too long, blowing up balloons and moving stereo equipment didn't seem like an ideal way to spend her hours, even if time meant absolute garbage to her now.

The blonde opted to stay outside, earning a loud yelling from the heiress later on, which hardly mattered to her at all. The next day, her teammate would have forgotten all about her anger.

Yang shuffled her feet away from the descending crowd of students.

Where should she escape to today? Yang pondered. She had about an abundant amount of minutes to kill until she had anything really important to do. Her lazy gaze strayed towards the blue sky, then steered towards the top of the school buildings. Sunbathing on the roof didn't sound like such a bad idea.

Three hours...to waste.

...Three hours would be perfect for a long nap.

* * *

13:04

Expecting complete silence, Yang stalked up the stairway and opened the door to the rooftop. The sun, burning even closer to her now, shone down warmly onto the heated floor. Under the cloudless blanket of blue, with the beautiful view of the school gardens and its fountain, the blonde most certainly did not expect to see strands of messy green in the air.

She would have been more excited with the unexpected encounter, if she hadn't been met with a familiar backside. A man, wearing his usual set of untidy clothing and carrying a steaming cup of Joe permanently stitched to his hand, stood in front of her.

He quickly turned around to face the second visitor of the roof. Yang's jaws dropped open on their own accord. "Professor Oobleck?"

"Miss Long! It is certainly a nice surprise to see one of my students joining me up here!" The man greeted her with his trademark style of oration, speaking so quickly without any appropriate pauses that the audience had to concentrate very hard to understand his phrases. "And please, address me as Doctor Oobleck outside of class. I didn't get that PhD for fun, you know? Now, may I ask what you are doing here all by yourself? Have you come up here to enjoy the view of the school under the afternoon sun as well?"

Well, Yang thought, she would certainly cross off rooftop from the list of places she could visit during the hours between one to four. "Um... Yeah, sure."

"And where are are your fellow teammates? Preparing for tomorrow evening, I dare say?" Yang simply nodded shortly, hoping to reduce the amount of words he put out, but to no avail. "Excellent, excellent! International events such as the Vytal Tournament are important methods used by the four kingdoms to maintain the status of peace and unity in our world. I am sure that the dance you and Miss Schnee have planned perfectly for us tomorrow night will be playing an enormous contribution to the camaraderie between the visiting students and the students at Beacon!"

She groaned as another headache resurfaced. She thanked the heavens above that the day she was stuck in was at least a non-school day, meaning she wouldn't have to suffer from a tortuous line of lectures, his history lesson being one of the most prominent ones she wished to avoid after a certain mustached hunter's class. "Professor... You sure have a way of taking fun things and making them sound boring."

"Doctor." He corrected her sternly before taking another swig of the dark substance in his mug. "And what could you possibly mean by boring? Why, the Vytal Tournament is the very embodiment of international cooperation. It is one of the most exciting affairs to study in this day and age!"

"I thought you studied history, not stuff about the present." The blonde frowned at his energetic rant.

"Ah! But that is where you are wrong!" His face lit up, imitating the appearance of Ruby who walked into a weapon shop. "History is the backbone of everything in our lives, which includes our current period of existence. Nothing we have acquired so far could have been achieved without the past. And no more history could ever be written without the present! So you see, Miss Long, the past, the present, and the future are permanently intertwined together, constantly affecting one another through the smallest of ripples."

"The past, the present, and the future, huh?" She had been half-regretting climbing up to this setting until her mind caught onto those particular words. "Professor- Sorry. Doctor Oobleck... What's your opinion on time?"

"I'm sorry. I don't think I quite understand the question."

"I mean... Time travel..." Yang looked at him hesitantly. "Does it exist?"

If he had an answer, he chose not to say it immediately. Hating the uncomfortable silences in between, Yang added on, "Professor Ozpin told me that the power to travel through time...even different spaces of dimensions...it's incredibly rare but it's not unheard of..."

"Yes, well, the headmaster would have told you correctly as he has seen and heard more than all of us professors combined at the school. I second his opinion that time travel, though terribly uncommon, is still possible. Though I have never seen examples for myself, I have read case studies of people who claim to have experienced something close to it." He sighted her out of the corner of his eye. "However, I would have to imagine that the person with such an ability would have to be extra careful in using it as it could engender some rather...catastrophic results."

"...Like what?"

"Why paradoxes, my dear girl! Dangerous paradoxes, indeed." He elaborated more upon her puzzled expression. "Imagine a scenario in which the effect comes before the cause! Everything that can be explained in our time frame would no longer be essentially true. A time traveler could return back to a period in which he or she wasn't even born yet and alter the future. But then what becomes of the time traveler? How would the meddling affect the individual? It is a mind bobbling phenomenon to think about. And quite frankly, I do not think there will ever be a conclusive answer."

"What... What about loop holes?" Yang barely whispered.

"Loop holes?" He seemed to be asking for a more extensive description.

"You know... Like, being stuck in a moment in time." She tried her best to delineate, having a better time with it than the first couple of runs she had done in the previous week. "A particular period that's on constant repeat... An unending cycle."

"...I have not heard of recorded cases before, but I'm confident enough to bet that they aren't impossible." The man sent her a slightly concerned glance. "These are a series of strange questions you are asking me. Is there something you aren't sharing with me, Miss Long?"

Yang outwardly grunted in frustration. That was nearly the exact same reaction she had gotten from Professor Ozpin. Of course, her history teacher spoke less cryptically about it, but how could she have thought that he would be any more knowledgeable about the topic.

"No." She shook her head, chastising herself for another futile effort. "Nothing at all."

"I would imagine that being stuck in an endless loop hole would be a terrible experience." The doctor continued, fully aware that the blonde hadn't been satisfied with his previous response.

"...It would suck." She took the bait willingly as she agreed with his conjecture. "So if somebody was ever stuck in a situation like that... What do you think that person should do?"

"...As a hunter who teaches students about the history of Remnant, there is one important fact I have learned about our world, and it is that very little ever changes. Humans study the events from the past but they do not take the lessons to heart." He spoke with a much slower and graver voice than before as his gaze was directed towards an unclear point in the distance. "In most circumstances, history has proven to repeat itself. That can be observed quite accurately within our own society. Aspects of injustice, inequality, cruelty and violence, are still existent in this world."

Yang was beginning to think that he was going nowhere with this bleak point. And as if he could read her mind, he began to state with a much hopeful breath of air. "But I believe the pattern is growing weaker, achieved through the power of individuals. An instance would be that from the ashes of war, humans and faunus reunited with an act of harmony. Though there are still flaws, the community never stops moving."

"So, getting back to the conundrum." He turned to face her fully as he spoke. The intensity of his eyes were concealed by his thick lenses. "I believe that the only option would be to learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward. With enough effort, bad cycles are destined to break."

It took a long moment before Yang could even begin to register the magnitude of what he was saying. And as she ventured to process it, he flipped out an old stopwatch kept at the back end of his pant's pocket.

"...Unfortunately, I believe I have a staff meeting I must now attend to." He broke the prolonged silence as he checked the time. "Miss Long, if you would like, we could continue this discussion at a later juncture."

She grinned weakly at her teacher's suggestion. "I'll run by your office tomorrow."

"All right." He bobbed his head in approval. Sipping the last drop from his cup, he left through the entry. "I shall see you then."

"...Right..." She waved him a small good-bye through the doors.

* * *

 _"You were so afraid of him."_

 _"I was not."_

 _"Aw, kitty... You were totally scared out of your wits!"_

 _"Do not call me that, Yang."_

 _"Whoa, watch those claws, Blake." The blonde playfully imitated a scratching motion with her right hand. "Otherwise I'll have to bring Zwei along for guard duty."_

 _The playful threat stimulated a vicious scowl from her partner's face._ _"Don't you dare come near me with him."_

 _"How can you hate Zwei?" Yang rolled her eyes at the obvious display of irrational displeasure. "I mean, didn't you see his face? Even Weiss went all soft on him."_

 _"...He smells funny," said the cat-faunus._

 _"He does not smell funny." The blonde crossed her arms, avidly defending the cleanliness of her family pet. "He's as clean as a dog could get!"_

 _"He smells funny,"_ _Blake repeated stubbornly._

 _Relenting, the blonde at least decided to ask as she stopped in her tracks, facing her friend's form, "What does he smell like exactly?"_

 _Blake halted as well, steering her amber gaze straight up at the blonde to say, "He smells like a dog."_

 _"That doesn't make any sense!"_

 _"Just keep him away from my belongings." Blake began to walk through the halls again, not bothering to pay attention to the girl's spluttering protests from behind her. "End of discussion."_

 _"Aw, come on! I always wanted you to meet Zwei!" The blonde did not give in as she jogged back to her partner's side. "Imagine the fun you guys would have with the laser pointer-"_

 _"Yang."_

 _"-And I'll make sure he doesn't even touch your stash of tuna cans. He's into his little treats, you know, unless you want to give those a try too..."_

 _"Yang, I'm warning you."_

 _"Oh! Maybe I should get my dad to send over a ball of yarn next time with Zwei's chew toys? Would that make you-"_

 _There was a loud resonating thump. Weiss and Ruby, who had been walking ahead in the corridor turned around and saw the blonde sprawled, face-first, onto the ground. A very irritated, but satisfied, looking Blake glowered over her._

 _"-happy...?" Yang finished her sentence in a deep moan, lifting her head slightly to see the rest of her teammates simply shrugging and walking away from the scene of the crime._

 _._

The uncomfortable hard surface, on which her spine laid directly, awoke her.

Washing the sleep off her face with her hands, Yang rose from the floor, several of her bones audibly cracking as she did so.

This had been another mystery. Despite waking up at 7:58 in the morning and practically having to fall unconscious at precisely 9:41pm, her regular sleeping regime didn't seem to appease her body, as her mind remained groggy and her muscles strained for majority of the day.

She no longer had dreams either. Technically, she did, but these days she could not recall them easily like she used to. This one had been about Blake, that was for certain. But no specific details came to her mind.

Rubbing her left eye until it had gone a bit pink, she peered down at the scroll next to her and suspected that the time would read-

"Damn it!" The blonde jumped to her feet. She had overslept.

Leaping across the stairway from the top floor, Yang raced through the courtyards towards the place she last remembered her friends being at the time. The blonde raced to the dance hall and found the doors to be creaking open, as if the duo inside was only just about to leave the building. Yang caught a glimpse of pink streamers hanging from the ceiling.

The air was soon filled by her teammates' shrill voices, as two figures immediately spotted the blonde running towards the entrance.

"Yang! Where have you been?" Ruby shouted in concern.

Meanwhile, Weiss was inquiring to her, "What have you been doing this whole time?"

"Funny story. I kind of dozed off for a bit there..." The blonde let out a shaky, nervous laughter and began to rush a fib through her panting. "I was looking for Nora to borrow her air pump, but then I got distracted by this big pool of sunlight... Then I thought, meh, Weiss is probably covered with the whole dance thing so I might as well take a short nap and- Oh! It's Sun and Neptune!"

"Hey." The boys gave the blonde an appreciative nod as they exited from the same space as Ruby and Weiss. "What's up?"

"What are you guys doing here?" Yang frowned. If she was a couple minutes late, then the conversation she knew by heart would have already happened inside the ballroom.

"We just dropped by to say hi. See how things are going." Neptune summed up. "These guys were just going out to look for you."

"Are you guys leaving now?" She inquired.

"Yeah." Sun answered in turn, shaking his buddy playfully on the shoulder. "This guy says he wants to look around the campus more and I was going to try talking to Blake."

Yang gaped at him, wishing her ears were deceiving her. "You were what?"

"Going to talk to Blake." He repeated innocently, smiling as he spelled it out for the blonde. "You know, about the dance? Me. Her. Going together?"

"...No." The firmness of her unexpected outburst startled not only her but also everyone else standing around her. Dark-grayish eyes blinked down at her slowly, comprehension far from his grasp.

"No?" Sun reiterated hesitantly, wondering if he had heard the blonde right. "No...meaning...you don't know what I'm talking about or...?"

"I mean, no, you don't have to." She pressed, refusing to bend her obstinate mood. "I'll do it."

" _You_ want to talk to Blake?" He sounded a bit doubtful, which made her even more adamant about the matter.

She didn't mean to sound territorial with her next words, but she assumed that the harshness in her tone and the rigidity in her stance made her come off as so. "She's _my_ partner. _I'll_ talk to her."

Weiss decided to take the opportunity of a long, heavy pause to clear her throat. "...Sun, Neptune. Would you mind helping us set up the stereos before you leave?"

"Uh... Sure." Neptune shrugged, accepting the offer as soon as it came. Meanwhile, Sun gave Yang one lasting quizzical glance before nodding at the heiress as well.

"Thank you. They're right inside." Weiss walked the two gentlemen through. "We'll be with you in just a second."

Then she effectively shut the doors as soon the boys were led their way inside, pressing her entire body against the metal handle. Immediately, light blue eyes stared up at her in mixed incredulity and anger. "What was that about?"

"What was what?" The blonde feigned a guiltless countenance.

The heiress merely scoffed at her attempt, continuing on directly with her accurate accusation. "You looked like you were ready to bite his head off!"

Yang felt like the heiress defending the monkey-faunus was slightly ironic, seeing as her opinion about the boy when she first saw him was nothing more than derogatory.

This time it was Ruby's turn to chime in with persistent anxiety. "What's the matter, sis? Do you not like Sun and Neptune?"

"Of course I like Sun and Neptune," replied Yang stiffly. "I just... I really wanted to talk to Blake, that's all."

"To be honest... You've been acting pretty off since this morning." Neither of her friends were convinced, Yang noted, especially as Weiss narrowed her eyes at her in suspicion. "Did something happen last night that we don't know about?"

The blonde felt very tempted to start shouting for no reason, but swallowed back a nasty remark, telling herself that both her sister and her friend have done no wrong but fret over her well-being. It wasn't technically their fault that they didn't remember asking the same question to her over and over again for the past few days. Frankly, in gratitude of their repetitive concerns, the mental fatigue in Yang's body merely multiplied.

Finally arriving at the conclusion that it wasn't worth getting into an argument with Weiss, even if the clock would reset in several hours, the blonde breathed in through her nose and said calmly. "I'm just a bit tired, okay? Now, let me take care of Blake. You guys finish up here with Sun and Neptune, then go shopping. I know for a fact that Ruby still hasn't picked out a dress."

"She what?" An aghast Weiss whipped her head around furiously at her partner, who nervously chuckled under the incensed gaze.

"How did you know that?" Ruby interrogated the blonde frantically from the corner of her lips.

"Big sister instincts," quipped Yang before leaving the scene behind her.

But even after having left her sibling behind, Ruby's question continued to linger in her head. She believed she had told the truth. Neptune was fine. He seemed like a bit of an idiot judging from the mission they had taken together at Junior's club, but other than that he appeared to be a nice person and a loyal friend.

And Sun? ...She didn't hate Sun. She was simply annoyed by him being at a constant need to be around Blake and impress her. She didn't like the fact that he teased her, bothered her, used her name as an adjective to mean moody and antisocial. Granted, she did all those things as well. But she knew Blake longer! They had a much more meaningful relationship. And Yang knew that her partner was more than just serious and reclusive. That wasn't Blake at all. Her partner had smiled on several occasions. She made jokes. After all, she was there, always being the first one to have a witty comment ready to launch.

Blake smirked at the blonde's blunders, not in a rude way, but a manner in which showed both concern and mild amusement. She laughed at her dumb jokes - usually only half of it was out of pity - and she even went along with some of the more tame tactics she and Ruby came up with.

Yang highly doubted that Sun's understanding of Blake encompassed all of this.

And if she had sorted out her thoughts a bit more, she would have hurtled over the denial to accept the simple fact that she was jealous of Sun Wukong. Nothing more than fickle jealousy.

She looked up and realized that her feet, having been conditioned, had already carried her to the foot of the school library.

Professor Oobleck was right. She had repeated the same mistake for far too long. Letting eight days pass by without having done anything was more moronic than the time she tried to cook breakfast while solely depending on her semblance.

This would be the day she broke the jinx. She would hopefully move forward, with the help of her catty friend.


	19. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 4)

16:14

"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well just save your breath," Blake said through gritted teeth, crossing her arms, forming them into a tight lock as she paced around the empty lecture hall.

"...All right then, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't-" Her partner broke off, standing rigidly as she whirled around to face the blonde with a muddled visage. "Excuse me?"

"I said, what do you want to talk about?" Yang grinned warmly, radiating some heat off of her body via her semblance in order to soothe her partner.

It worked to a certain extent as the blonde saw her shoulders slacken slightly, most likely though out of confusion. "...I don't understand. I thought you dragged me out here for a reason."

"Well, I wouldn't use the word drag," she teased playfully. "You seemed to awfully enjoy following that red dot."

In response, Blake shot her an extremely loaded look.

"Not in the mood. Got it." The blonde tapped on the area next to the desk she was lying on, her hair flowing over the wooden border. "Come on. I just want to talk."

After a pause of reluctance per the norm, her partner eventually crawled up onto the flat furniture, sitting with one knee up as she looked below at the messy mass of golden hair in silence.

"Okay... I do have something I want to share. It's pretty big." Yang admitted, turning her head slightly to hide a pink blush forming on her cheeks. "...Lately, I've been having these feelings. These really important feelings. And they've grown so out of proportion...I don't think I can ignore them anymore."

Yang occupied her skittish hands by entangling them into a tight knot. "Are you familiar with a sort of tingling in your stomach? Like...it's a bit of nervousness. You feel queasy. But it's the good kind of queasy."

A quizzical glance was thrown at her and Blake's mildly concerned voice inquired, "Are you ill?"

"No." She chuckled lightly, shaking her head as she smiled at her clueless partner. "It's way better than being sick."

The feline girl merely gaped at her, the blankness reflected in her orbs alerting Yang that the conversation would be going nowhere without further elaboration.

She decided to be casually blunt. "Blake, have you ever been in love?"

"...What?" It took a moment before her partner could choke out a response, evidently baffled by the out-of-context query.

"I mean..." She began again more carefully, refusing to let her gaze stray from the mesmerizing gems of amber. "Have you ever liked somebody before?"

Long lashes swept up and down. Eyes narrowed and the dim light being cast inside her partner possibly grew even darker. The girl's shoulders tensed again as she gripped onto the edges of the desk. And instead of answering the question as Yang had anticipated, Blake started to speak in a most frighteningly calm manner the blonde had ever heard. "This is by far the most pointless conversation you've ever started."

The hostile reaction was more than enough for Yang to snap forward into an upright position, trying her best not to look too hurt at the obvious dismissal of her well-thought out effort. "What? Why? Why is it pointless?"

"Because there are more important things to be concerned about than the school dance!" Her partner retorted angrily.

"I'm not talking about the stupid dance," she countered with an equally frustrated frown. "I'm talking about...love!"

"They're the same thing," said Blake shortly.

"How on earth are they the same thing?" The brawler hoped she did not sound too exasperated as she asked this.

"They're both distractions."

For a second, Yang lost the ability to speak as her partner hardened her glare, as if challenging the blonde to tell her otherwise. "Distractions? That's how you would define love? As a distraction?"

Oh, right. She mentally slapped herself for her own stupidity. She had forgotten. Today was the one day Blake didn't care about anything else in the world than her objective to defeat the White Fang.

After a short sigh, Yang re-initiated the chat with her strongest attempt at a persuasive yet pacifying tone. "Blake... Maybe life doesn't always have to be about slaying monsters, worrying about the bad guys. Sometimes, don't you want to slow down? Live your life without that kind of stress hanging over your head?"

Notwithstanding the pacifying endeavor, the girl refused to budge on the matter. "We don't have the luxury to slow down."

"I _told_ you. It's not a luxury." The blonde found herself repeating a set of recycled lines as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's a necessity."

"The _necessity_ is stopping Torchwick."

"Damn it, Blake!" Of all the luck, she had to be stuck in a time frame where her partner was being the least agreeable person in the planet. Anger got the better of her as she began to raise her volume. "Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time?"

"I don't understand how all of you could be so indifferent about this!" Now two angry voices filled the still air of the classroom. "People's lives are at stake!"

"We care just as much as you do!" The blonde wore a dangerous look at the implied accusation the girl was making. "But we don't let that fight control us! You're letting this whole thing with the White Fang eat you alive!"

"I don't care!" Blake threw her hands up in the air, adding to the dramatic effect of her already emotional tone of voice. "I don't care what happens to me as long as I can stop them!"

"That's... That's not...!" A stream of profanity lurched out her throat. She kicked the chair standing beside her leg and it fell over in a noisy clatter. This conversation was not going the way she wanted it to, especially as she felt the heat surrounding her rise significantly. "Can't we go one day, _one single day_ , without talking about this? I'm so sick and tired of having to cheer you up every goddamn day just to go back to square one!"

"What are you saying?" Her partner frankly assessed the blonde, refusing to flinch from the sudden act of physical aggression. "You're not making any sense!"

Nonetheless, Yang did not stop there, as another hideous throbbing in her head temporarily eradicated the sane part of her mind.

"You are so obsessed about this!" Red irises burned in uncomprehending vexation. "Why? You're not the only one who feels like the White Fang needs to be stopped! You're not the only one who wants to put Torchwick behind bars! So why do you always have to throw yourself out there, completely disregarding people who might actually care about you, and try to do everything on your own!"

The question had hit a home run. Blake had gone visibly fixed, immutable to the point where she could have been performing an uncanny impression of a life-size statue. Finally, her mouth unstuck enough to murmur out a low whisper. "I can't explain it... I just- I'm the only one who can do this... I have to be."

That... Blake had certainly never worn that kind of expression before. She had looked sad and despondent at times. But this emotion went beyond melancholy. It was a wretched look, the kind consumed with such bitter guilt and pain. Its capabilities were astonishing as it allowed nothing else in the room to matter anymore, not to the blonde who was forced to stand witness to it.

Worry consumed Yang, because she cared. Because she longed to know what happened in her mysterious partner's past that made her the obstinate, self-sacrificing idiot she was now.

But most of all, she wanted to chase that agony away. She wanted this horrid day to end, to extinguish her partner's exhausted visage, drained by a consuming mania of personal justice, absent of the light she had grown so fond of during their first semester together.

And these strong sentiments of empathy she was feeling at the moment, the brawler wouldn't dare allow them to become a passing phase.

There were numerous instances in life when Yang knew the action she was about to partake in was impulsive and irrational. And even as she tried to stop herself, the roaring ball of fire living inside of her prevented such preemptive strikes from ever reaping any forms of success. Yang recognized this as being one of the moments, perhaps a little too late. Her brain worked without her permission. And the blonde's body leaned forward in an agile shift; in an instant, Yang's lips were locked onto a soft, moist surface. Blake's pupils went large, her limbs being paralyzed by shock. The blonde took the opportunity of stupor to cup the girl's face with her two hands, pressing deeper and harsher as the ignited flame began to grow at an astronomical rate into a gigantic conflagration.

Pure bliss was all she registered for a moment, tasting the delicate lips underneath her own. The soft scent of her partner making her shudder, sending a tickling sensation of arousal through her spine. Her ears caught onto a quiet moan, and for a second her surging heart believed it to be a sound of reciprocated pleasure. She imagined that Blake was kissing her back. But then came a series of perceivable trembles. Two shaky hands ascended and clutched onto her shoulders, the force increasing by the second as Yang kept her eyes tightly shut, not willing to budge in the slightest.

"Yang..." She heard a meek whisper escape through.

"Don't..." But Yang hushed her as she immediately closed the space between them once more.

Yet, the struggle had become much stronger, the resistance more dire. The next gasp for air hadn't been initiated with the blonde's assent as Blake forcibly propelled off from the blonde's body, creating a distance enough to address her partner again. "Yang!"

And it was the faint tint of fear the brawler heard in her friend's voice that snapped her out of her mindless craze.

Of all the techniques she could have used to address this matter, she had to have tried the physical approach. It was almost as if her rationale splintered for the past minute.

"I- I'm sorry." The blonde finally stuttered as she pulled away in alarm. "That was- I don't know what came over me."

Every reasonable judgment call was chucked out the window as she gave into the desires she had managed to restrain for too long. And even she, optimistic, though not as nearly as her younger sister, couldn't think of a way to turn this situation around to her advantage. Because there was nothing she could do as her partner refused to even meet her gaze; her black hair rained down on both sides of her cheeks as she stared at her own hands carefully folded onto her lap.

She would have felt better if the faunus glared at her, shouted at her, declared war upon her. But instead she was met with an eerie level of quietude, the non-response jabbing at her stomach with invisible daggers.

"Blake?" Color drained from her face as she called out to her.

There was a rapid motion as Blake swung her legs around and jumped off of the desk. She looked prepared for a sprint, although she kept her eyes fixated on the ground. Yang grabbed her wrist before her partner could run off at a great speed. "Blake, please, talk to me."

In spite of her plead, the faunus did not provide her with much. And if there was one fact Yang knew for certain about her friend, it was that she was extremely strong when she needed to be. Blake twisted and turned, struggling for a few seconds until she wrenched herself free from the blonde's desperate grasp.

"I need to... I need to go." She whispered, as she slowly edged away.

"Wait!"

But it was too late. The entrance at the top flight of the stairs had slammed open as a flurry of black and white shadows raced across the path.

Her dark curls disappeared out of sight. Yang leaped from the desk and scurried forward. Upon reaching the door, she rushed outside, swinging her head left and right to see if she could catch even a glimpse of her partner's dark form. The corridors were empty. The blonde scanned until her sight was obscured to a line of blurs and she finally forced herself to blink.

* * *

16:35

"Yang! I'm so glad you're here." Nora pointed irritably at the male form standing next to her. "Help me convince Ren that we need to-"

"We are not breaking Jaune's legs," the boy intervened in a firm but docile manner.

"I never said I would do that. All I was saying is that he needs some good old sense knocked into him!"

"...Nora, I don't feel like talking right now..." Yang was beginning to say, maintaining a harsh pressure on her temples as she glared directly at the floor of the dormitory corridor.

But the hyperactive girl was too worked up to have listened to a single word as usual. She dashed around the vicinity of the hallway, before continuing on in a failed attempt of a whisper. "You know who Jaune likes, right?"

"Yes, I know. He likes Weiss." Yang groaned. "But listen, I'm really not in the mood to-"

"Okay, good. But I'll have to speak in code from here." Nora chose to talk right on over her sentence. "Now what if somebody else likes Jaune, and Jaune might be too thick to realize it for himself, and this somebody else might be too nice to tell Jaune the truth, and Jaune keeps going after the wrong girl, and somebody else ends up moving on and going after somebody else, then Jaune realizing this too late regrets on never having asked somebody else! Then everything goes down to hell!"

After the unnecessarily lengthy rant, the girl stared at the blonde, waiting for an appropriate response of agreement that would not come.

Yang didn't even give her the benefit of a glance as she began a staring contest with her own shoes. "Who cares if Pyrrha likes Jaune and he's too dumb to get the idea? It's their life. They'll deal with it themselves."

Ren kept his neutral expression. Nora seemed disturbed by the blonde's uncharacteristically subdued manner to be offended by the rather flippant remark.

"And maybe Pyrrha is being smart not making a move," continued Yang in a weak mumble. "Maybe it's because she's worried she might screw it all up and ruin their entire friendship and lose the one person that means the whole world to her."

For someone who was so crazy and over-the-top, Yang didn't think that tact and cunning observation would also be present traits within the girl. But the blonde would be wrong for the second time today as Nora's searching eyes seemed to stare directly at her soul for a long minute or two. "Well, I think if you like someone enough to look that depressed about it... You need to do something about it."

Thankfully, before Yang could start fumbling out more words, Nora said "Come on, Ren" and dragged the poor boy back into their room by the collar.

The blonde refused to let the message sink in as she went inside her own living quarters. What did Nora know? She claimed she did not "like-like" Ren despite having such an obvious chemistry with him.

Yang collapsed onto her bed, letting the hours pass by in pain as her headache had grown to such a powerful extent that she couldn't even allow her body to fall into blissful slumber. The throes kept her awake longer than she expected.

Eventually, at the 9:37pm hallmark, she heard the clattering footsteps of Ruby and Weiss walking in the corridor.

"All I'm saying is...I won't be going to the dance with a date. I have too much to focus on at the moment to worry about boys." She heard the heiress announce as the dorm room door opened. The blonde kept her back turned to her friends, listening in intently.

There was an instant hushing of sound as her teammates recognized, in their eyes, a sleeping figure on the opposite top bunk.

"Is she asleep?" Weiss whispered cautiously as they tiptoed inside, closing the entrance with a small creak. The room fell dark again without the light flooding in from the hall ceiling.

She felt her sister pull up onto her hand with her two hands to catch a closer peek at her.

"Yang?" Ruby asked quietly. The blonde pressed her lips together even harder and purposely made a low rumble of snores to deceive her younger sibling. At the lack of response, the team leader slid back onto the ground. "...I think so."

"And Blake's not here, as usual." The heiress sighed, muttering quietly. "I guess their talk didn't go very well."

"...We'll just have to try again tomorrow morning." Ruby sounded a bit gloomy, but recovered quickly enough to add a slightly jesting comment, "I mean, we can't let a perfectly good dress go to waste, right?"

"I did not buy it for _her,_ " replied a haughty voice. "I bought an extra outfit for myself but I am willing to let Blake borrow it for the evening."

Ruby let out a tiny knowing cough. "The dress is black and purple."

"Maybe I wanted to change my appearance a bit," grunted the heiress.

"Aw, face it, Weiss. You love us."

"Go to sleep, Ruby."

Yang, lying as motionless as a corpse, listened to her teammates change out of their day clothes and into their pajamas. Soon the air became quiet again as the pair tucked themselves into their respectable beds and exchanged a murmur of "Good night."

The bunk underneath hers was still empty, however. And for the first time in two weeks, Yang drifted off in silence, the atmosphere absent of the sound of her partner's soothing purrs.

* * *

07:58

Her headache had been subdued for now. But she still felt horrible, the aftermath of memories flooding in from the evening before.

She turned on her scroll, turning off the ticking alarm, and checked the date.

Saturday. It was still Saturday.

There was the familiar sound of turning pages and Yang carefully lowered the front of her body, peeking over the bed into the lower compartment. Blake sat over her unused sheets, perusing through a book as she usually did.

"Blake...?" The bow on top of the faunus twitched at the call of her name. The notes moved slightly downwards, revealing two dull amber orbs towards the blonde's direction.

"Yes?" Her partner answered shortly, awaiting for the blonde to get on with whatever it is she wanted to say.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Yang asked hesitantly, praying desperately that not a single one of those dark bags present on her partner's countenance were caused by her own impetuous course of action.

"...What are you talking about?" Blake sent her a genuinely uninformed glance, lowering the book several more inches as the blonde let an audible breath of relief escape from her lips.

For the first time, in now ten consecutive days, she was comforted to know that yet another twenty four hours had disappeared into oblivion.

"I'm sorry."

The sudden apology greatly perplexed the feline girl. "Why are you sorry?"

"I just... I just am," muttered the blonde incoherently. "Sorry."

The cat faunus looked like she would have liked to ask more questions regarding the matter but thankfully the door chose to slam open over her following words.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" Ruby burst in with the heiress. Yang laid resting on her stomach, burying half of her face into her arms as she watched the scene unfold.

She allowed her sister to twitter on, spill that mug of coffee, and bicker with Weiss for the next minute.

Blake shuffled out of her bunk. With a book in hand, she stated calmly, "I'll be heading to the library."

In silence, Yang trailed her partner's footsteps as she approached the visible hall. "I'll see you guys later."

Though the faunus did not immediately exit as she normally did. Instead, the blonde nearly jerked in surprise as Blake turned around to fully face her as her left hand rested on the metal handle. The blonde chose to look away, and after a densely tense moment she heard the door make a clunking noise as it closed.

"What was that about?" Ruby pondered out loud, panning her gaze back and forth from the shut entry to her sister's retreating figure.

"Nothing," said the blonde in a muffled voice.

"...Sis? Are you okay?" The girl inquired as she peered up at the ordinarily more energetic brawler. Weiss cranked her neck as well in order to look above. Her blue eyes widened slightly as she, too, honestly observed.

"Yang, you look terrible." The heiress seconded her partner's opinion with a far more blatant phrase.

She grimaced in return. "Thanks a lot, Weiss."

"No, I mean you don't look well."

Yang thought about the day, and all the predictable possibilities that came with it. Deciding that perhaps none of it was worth the trouble anymore, she let out a defeated sigh. More so than anything else, the blonde was filled with the deepening desire to not leave the vicinity of her bed.

"Actually guys... I don't feel so good."

Her admission summoned an almost instantaneous effect.

"What? But Yang, you never get sick! Should we get you some medicine?" The blonde shook her head at Ruby's shrill concerns. "We could take you to the infirmary if you want?"

"No. It's fine. I think it's just the flu." Yang grinned weakly, waving off the petite girl's offers. "I can probably sleep it all off."

"Are you sure?" Her sister persisted. "One of us can stay behind and keep you company?"

"No." This time she gave a more unyielding response. "That's really not necessary."

"Well, if you're sure..." Weiss said in an unconvinced fashion, looking moderately worried as well. "Don't even think about overexerting yourself today. You look like you really need some more rest. I'll get somebody else to help out with the dance hall."

It took a lot of willpower for the blonde to not roll her eyes at this statement. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Dance hall?" Ruby stared blankly at her white-haired companion.

"We need to get the ballroom ready for the dance, remember? I left you guys a note about it in my binder."

"Oh...right... Yeah... I definitely read that." said Ruby halfheartedly, and sensing another imminent rebuking from the heiress, she effectively drew the argument to a fresh but relevant topic. "We could ask Jaune?"

"Absolutely not," she huffed, having been successfully diverted.

"Aw, how come?" Their leader whined in disappointment.

"I don't want to spend another afternoon being referred to as a Snow Angel," the heiress answered curtly.

"I thought you got promoted to Ice Queen..." Ruby mumbled, to which the grand monarch of nicknames simply walked out of the room, pretending not to have heard the comment.

"Call us if you need anything. Okay, Yang?" Her sister told her before she followed her partner's footsteps out to the corridor. The blonde nodded, making an effort to wave goodbye until the door closed shut once more.

Immediately, Yang collapsed back onto her mattress.

Was this what she had been reduced to? The adventure-loving, thrill-seeking young woman was now reluctant to even get out of bed in the morning. How long would it take for the thinning ice to break? What would the others think when she falls into utter madness?

Yang took the moment to pull out her scroll and mute it. She wanted complete privacy, for the entire world to simply shut up as she ungracefully dropped into a spiral of miserable thoughts.

She was glad that yesterday was washed away. That the shock she had induced onto Blake and the pain of rejection would be lost over time. But then again, it did not make her feel any happier.

Her plan had essential failed, she noted. She had charged forward and rectified a mistake she had been neglecting for so long. But...by having done it so poorly, the blonde wondered if she created an even bigger pile of regret for herself.

Yang groaned, rolling onto her side, masterfully cloaking a frustrated scream into her fluffy pillow.

How bad would the bottom of the chasm be? The place she would inhabit once she lost the shred of hope she still managed to hold onto.

Thinking about her reality was, in all respects, terrifying.

She would never be able to see her family again. Her father, her uncle, Zwei... The search for her missing mother would come to a pathetic end, having accomplished nothing in the process of it.

Ruby. She would never get to see Ruby mature, blossoming into a wonderful huntress she knew her sister was destined to become. Down the road, the two of them would still be as freakishly close as ever, and Ruby would grow scarlet in embarrassment as her older sister told young children stories about how the heroine they look up to used to have a closer relationship with Crescent Rose than an actual human being.

She would never see Weiss become a huntress either, growing into a proud, prim, and well-mannered adult despite the rowdy years they would spend as an unbreakable group. Yang used to fantasize about the team sticking together, even after graduation, just so that she could continue to enjoy the white-haired heiress bicker on and on with their reckless team leader.

Then there was that one unanswered question in her life. Blake.

What happens next? There was no need to ask such a ridiculous question. No such answer would be given to her. What was the point of trying? Even if she managed to ask the girl out properly, and by a miraculous chance, her feelings were somehow reciprocated, another day would pass and Yang would be left alone again. Night would fall and everything would return back in time. History would continue to erase and repeat itself. It didn't matter if something happened on this day, as she had longingly dreamed of, because even if she succeeded, the girl that she was currently in love with would never be capable of remembering.

There was no probability of a second date, or the third, or the fourth. She would never be able to travel and explore the whole of Remnant with her partner, to save the world at each other's sides, like shadow and light, like the moon and the sun.

It was one thing to have hurdles in one-sided pursuits. The White Fang, Torchwick, and an attractive monkey faunus... She could have possibly dealt with them. At least out of those three categories, she was competent enough of a fighter to beat the two of them with her fists. Joining in on the battlefield, however, was the intangible being of time. Its powers, menacing and relentless.

Time sliced the passage in half.

A future no longer existed for her and Blake, and that thought alone made the blonde physically ill.

The dorm room was beginning to depress her. Walls, centering in on her, temporarily causing her to empathize with a claustrophobic. The entire campus felt like a jail cell, her tomb, representative of all the things she wanted out of life that were a "tomorrow" short from ever happening.

She had to get out. Leave.

Be anywhere but Beacon.

* * *

15:06

"You come breaking into my place at three o'clock in the afternoon. Demand me to open the bar early, and now you're just sitting there...taking up space."

"Hey, you should consider yourself lucky that I like this place enough to visit this often." Yang claimed, resting her chin on top of her hand as she glanced around the empty vacuous dance floor. "This is...nice. I should come back here again tomorrow."

A man, wearing a white dress shirt with a black vest over the top, fixed his red tie whilst glaring at his unwanted guest. "Please don't do that."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Junior." She shrugged off his bitter demand. "You won't even know I'm here. Now, hit me with one of those Strawberry Sunrises."

"Drinking at a club...alone on a Saturday? I can see your future, Blondie, and it's not looking good."

The blonde chuckled humorlessly. "You don't have to tell me twice."

But even after pleasantly receiving his insult with a smile, the man still declined to serve her.

"Have you ever had one of those days, where you realize that your life is literally going nowhere?" She started placidly. "And no matter how hard you try, nothing will ever turn out the way you want them to?"

His brows furrowed in annoyance. "What kind of stupid question is this?"

"Well, I'm having one of those days right now." Her lips curled as red eyes glinted at him in a threatening manner. "So I would greatly appreciate it if you could get me that Strawberry Sunrise."

He gulped, his left hand descending to cover his private parts, sulking at the last injury he had to suffer by offending the blonde. "Coming right up."

And he busied himself behind the counter, spitting out a drink as quickly as he can. Soon an orange-reddish dessert cocktail was angrily shoved towards her.

Completely disregarding the swirly straw, she took the glass with one hand and drank in long, unbroken gulps, until her lungs were screaming at her to stop. When she finally resurfaced for a gasp of air, Yang saw that she had nearly finished the entire drink in one sweep motion. She had not realized how parched her throat was.

There was an odd sensation forming inside her body.

Her head felt much heavier than before, feeling almost as if a tower of bricks was lying on top. It was most strange. She had stolen a few swigs from her uncle's flask before. Her alcohol tolerance couldn't be this low. But her eyelids fell extremely heavy as she roughly settled the glass.

There was a faded thump on the counter and the blonde unexpectedly slumped down into a state of unconsciousness.

.

 _Grimm horded around her. In spite of this, the blonde grinned eagerly as she stepped forward. Taking a few leisurely seconds, she targeted her first victim with excited lilac eyes._

 _A noisy battle cry was generated from her vocal chords as she charged forward at a Beowolf. She punched him, with multiple more hits than necessary, before practically flinging it off its feet into the impending crowd of monsters._

 _There was a rapid fire of gunshots, distinguishable from her own weapon. A few corpses of Nevermores dropped from the sky, circling around Yang's region. The blonde glanced behind and saw her trusty partner standing with Gambol Shroud activated into an effective pistol._

 _"Look who's got my back," teased the mighty brawler._

 _"Right..." Blake drawled sarcastically, a simple smile playing around her lips._

 _There was a series of snarls emitted in the air and the pair immediately snapped back into action. Yang shoved her two fists onto anything that moved toward her. Ember Cecilia spat out a shower of bullets, having clobbered at least ten creatures in counting._

 _The girl moved golden locks away from her face and took the moment to catch a glimpse of the cat faunus fighting next to her. She could have stared for hours, watching the girl fight an impressive battle in a flurry of black and white silhouettes. Her agile speed, combined with the forces of her shadow semblance, made it impossible to track her movements._

 _Smash!_

 _The blonde had been kept distracted for a second longer than she planned to be. A big swipe was aimed at her chest and she flew a few meters in the air before crashing into a nearby abandoned building._

 _"Yang!" Blake, who by no fault of her own had sidetracked her companion, cried out to her friend in concern._

 _Two dots of red gleamed out of the dusty mess. Shaking the debris off of her clothes, an angry Yang recharged her gauntlets with bullets and glared up at a particularly gigantic Beowolf. She lunged multiple punches, her hair glowing brighter with energy. The Grimm took the hits then dodged the last attack as Blake materialized by its side._

 _The pair exchanged a silent nod. By this point, they didn't need Ruby to direct them with any code orders. Yang sprinted forward, ducking under the monster's stomp, as Blake took a step forward, seizing the opportunity to slash at its legs, causing it to fall onto its injured knees. The blonde, in the mean time, had curved around, running in a perfect arc shape as she went towards her partner._

 _The grappling hook blasted towards her and she caught it perfectly with one hand. After numerous training exercises, this move was beginning to grow more and more facile to pull off. Yang took two large steps, before launching herself off the ground. Her partner, not betraying her trust, grabbed the ends of the black ribbon with both hands and swung the blonde around in the air, defeating the purpose of gravity. With the extra lift and support, the power of Yang's fist quadrupled, allowing it to smash through the Grimm's thick mask, bashing in its head with one swift and deadly strike._

 _The monster crashed onto its back as Yang landed back onto her feet, looking at the defeated carcass with a deep sense of satisfaction._

 _"Welp! That was easy." Yang clapped her hands together in small triumph, not even a single drop of sweat having formed on her forehead._

 _There were a few shouts and Zwei's happy barks echoed from a street two blocks from them to the left. Yang could sense the familiar ricochets of her sister's sniper rifle spring into life. "I think we're doing pretty well."_

 _"Are you sure about that?" Her partner smirked in reply to the girl's overconfidence. "Way to let your guard down back there."_

 _"I let him have the first hit." Yang laughed off the real reason. "Sometimes you have to give the Grimm a fighting chance, you know? Otherwise it's no fun."_

 _Blake titled her head, appearing to be on the brink of amusement as she usually did, when her black bow suddenly perked up. "...I think I hear some more on the other side."_

 _The blonde_ _didn't hear anything from this far of a distance, but she didn't doubt Blake's senses for a single second._

 _"I'm on it!" Yang dashed forward in the direction her partner was facing._

.

An extraordinary amount of pain woke her up from another foggy dream.

Breathing in searing gasps, feeling a coat of cold sweat around her neck, Yang's head snapped upwards, checking her surroundings in a greatly disorientated state. She was still sitting at the bar in the club.

She had never fallen asleep like that before. No, the experience felt more like a...blackout.

Yang jumped off of the stool. This, however, was a poor choice of action, as her body immediately felt woozy. Her back ached, evidently stiff from the uncomfortable position it had been forced to rest in. Stumbling away from the counter, she located the owner of the joint talking to his henchmen in a fishy corner. She approached the group, male individuals who were smoking around a round table, gambling with a deck of cards.

"Junior... What the hell did you put in my drink?" She scowled while clutching her head in hopes of steadying the aches.

"Me?" The man's cigar dropped onto the floor in panic. "That cocktail didn't have a single drop of alcohol in it!"

He froze at the blank look the blonde was giving him. "...What? I'm not serving any drinks to minors!"

"That's...perfect." She said through bared teeth, receiving a great discomfort from the man's abrupt yelling. "You live in the shadiest part of the neighborhood but _that_ code you swear by, huh?"

As he continued to make an incoherent slur of justifications, Yang checked her scroll. The feeble lighting in the room offering her no sense of time.

The list of missed calls were flying off the charts now. But for the moment, that wasn't what made Yang's jaw drop open in horror.

"You let me sleep here for _five hours straight_?" She bellowed at him in half-shock and half-rage.

"I figured the longer you're unconscious, the better," he explained his decision in a disgruntled undertone.

Growling furiously, she reluctantly chose to wring his neck some other day. For now, she needed some fresh air, not being able to withstand the murderous migraine thumping at the back of her head like a bulging vein ready to explode.

"Hey! You didn't even pay for your drink!"

"I'll give it to you tomorrow!" She snapped as she rushed outside the entrance, feeling a great urge to hurl. Yet her stomach decided that it held no content to empty. After a few retched attempts, the blonde regained her balance by leaning on an alley wall. She concentrated solely on filling her lungs, then draining it of air, repeating the process until the queasiness inside of her began to dull.

The sun had definitely descended by now. There were a few street lamps illuminating the area.

Everything was too high definition for her groggy brain to take in. She shut her eyes tightly, only opening them once again to check the messages flooding her communication device. She was about to click on one from Ruby when an incoming call startled her fingers.

The name popping up on her screen nearly caused her to drop the scroll. Nervously, she clicked on the talk button and accepted the form of contact. "...Blake?"

"Yang!" Her partner's distressed voice grabbed at her in an instant. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm...uh... I'm outside the school." She found herself answering truthfully.

"Why are you...?" There was a short sigh, which Yang could not decide if it was out of relief or further worry. "Tell me the exact location. I'm coming to get you."

"...You don't have to."

'Please don't,' she thought. 'Don't do things that will only make me confuse your kindness, your selfless show of friendship, to be anything more than what it is.'

She decided to add in a lie for good measure, "I'm heading back to Beacon already."

"But-" Blake had begun to argue, but not wanting to deal with her partner's stream of protests, Yang hung up the call.

The ringing of sound directly into her eardrums had badly prodded her barely stabilized conditions. The lights in her field of vision began to blacken and Yang speculated that the lanterns were beginning to flicker. It took a moment for the blonde to fully register that the street lights were in perfectly good condition. While in stark contrast, she was not. Specks of black holes were appearing in her visual perception.

She assumed she was about to have another blackout. Yang turned around, greatly out of touch, and accidentally collided with an unforeseen hard metal surface. Tripping onto the cement pavement, she recognized a set of tire wheels and realized that she had rammed into her own motorcycle.

For a second, her field of vision completely faded, and she saw something that could be deemed impossible. She was standing in the middle of the city, under a strong shower of sunshine and dust. She stood on top of a cracked platform...with a crowd of various Grimm ready to bombard her.

Then she was transported back. Her sight returned to the desolate alley, making her highly doubt that what she had seen for a fracture of a second was ever real.

The piercing headache reached its pinnacle. And Yang found that her legs were too sore, her arms too weak to hold up her body any longer. She couldn't understand what was happening to her. There was no sign of injury. She hadn't engaged in a real fight for nearly ten days now!

Was this one of the catastrophic side effects Professor Oobleck had mentioned? He had not implied that there would be pain. Was the constant rewinding of time affecting her physically, taking some unimaginable toll on her body, slowly depleting her of life? Otherwise there was no logical explanation to why she felt so tired...so dreadfully exhausted. All she wanted to do was close her eyes once more.

Her limbs gave away and she felt the cold pavement under her cheek.

The smell of cement and dirt clouded her thoughts as she succumbed to the prowling darkness.


	20. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 5)

If Yang expected to wake up on a cold unnumbered street, she would be wrong.

Instead, she stirred in her dormitory bed; the soft texture of blankets wrapped around her legs and waist was quite unmistakable.

The pain had nullified markedly, though it did not provide her with much solace as she could not predict when it would strike again. The blonde was too afraid to open her eyes, open them and undoubtedly find herself mysteriously transported back into her room at Beacon Academy. Yang began to harmlessly wonder if even death would be a strong enough force to keep her away from this incessant loop.

But it was bizarre. Already her body could feel a number of subtle differences to the usual morning. There was a cool wet surface swathed around her forehead and the scent that was imprinted onto her sheets was unalike her own: fresh and chill, resembling the smell of a forest after rainfall.

A few seconds ticked by. There was the sound of turning pages. But no matter how long she waited, her scroll did not ring. She allowed another strangely quiet minute to pass, the time period feeling highly irregular without her sister's high-pitched greeting slicing through it. With trepidation, Yang decided to take a peek.

The blonde did not expect to see a figure perched so closely by her side. Through squinted slits, she saw a pair of crossed legs, starting at black around the thighs then gradually fading away to bright purple around the ankles. Blake really should consider dropping the stealth code she lives so tightly under, Yang grumbled. She could barely even notice her partner breathing at times.

Then a tiny part of her brain finally clicked on the flashbulb, realizing the significance of this particular irregularity.

The blonde could have just as easily smacked the book out of the girl's hands while shouting at the top of her lungs. That action would have had a greatly similar effect to the one she actually took. Yang practically shot upwards, her body snapping into a sudden ninety degree angle, managing to catch the reading faunus totally off-guard as she nearly toppled over the cardboard box she was sitting on.

"Blake...! Why are you-?" Her mouth was too flabbergasted to form any proper diction. "Where- Is this- What's going on?"

"Yang, what's wrong?" Her partner placed her book down on the nearby shelf, fully facing the fumbling blonde in concern.

No, she did not wish to calm down. Nor could she do so even if she wanted to. Everything about this circumstance, this change of environment, the newness of it, was pumping adrenaline into her veins.

Ramming her fingers underneath the pillowcase, she searched for her scroll. Yet, it wasn't there.

Giving up on the quest, alternatively Yang turned to her partner. Hopeful violet orbs glimmered too brightly as they surveyed the cat faunus. "What day is it?"

As much as she loved Blake, it wasn't her silent concern that she wanted as a response.

"What day is it?" She repeated quickly at the lack of reply. It was a simple question, a simple question in which her entire life was hanging in the balance.

"...It's Saturday."

Her heart sank. Blake, unbeknownst to the situation, had plunged a knife into the blonde's chest, straight through any aura and shattering any hope.

Exhaling loudly in disappointment, Yang felt the lingering vertigo from her abrupt movements. Crashing back down onto her mattress, she stared up, expecting to see the bland ceiling. Instead, she found a brown wooden surface - the bottom frame of another bed.

Yang recovered enough to observe her surroundings more carefully and realized that she was lying in the lower compartment rather than the top. Blake's, to be exact: the one that was not held up by thick hardcover books.

"I'm..." The situation was highly confusing for her. Finally, the blonde turned to face her partner, who was wearing an odd expression. "Am I in your bed?"

Blake blinked twice before answering. "We had to move you."

"Move me? What...?" It was either her partner was terrible at providing explanations or Yang was missing a large chunk of her memory. "Why?"

"Because you're sick." The girl expanded, appearing slightly anxious. "You have a bit of a fever."

She picked up the wet towel that had fallen onto the floor due to the blonde's rapid departure from slumber.

"I'm not- Where are Ruby and Weiss?" If this was indeed Saturday, her teammates were meant to be here, bickering away like an old married couple about her sister's sugar tooth and faulty memory.

Yang took a short moment to glance towards the desks in front of the aligned beds. Her narrowed eyes found the familiar stain of coffee on the nearly immaculate carpet, indicating that the conversation between her sister and the heiress did occur at some point.

"Tomorrow's the school dance." Blake prompted. "They had to go decorate the dance hall. But they were still really worried about you... Ruby popped in every now and then to make sure you were okay..."

"Wait... What time is it?" queried Yang nervously, patting down the tangled golden locks of her morning hair.

Her partner, who had been able to locate her own scroll, fiddled around with it in her hands. "It's half past noon."

She had slept in, nearly four hours more than usual. No wonder the morning seemed so different. It was because she had missed it.

"Then... What about you?" Yang did not know what to expect as she asked this. "Why are you here?"

The cat faunus glanced up at the rough inquiry, which Yang had to admit came off more as an accusation than an innocuous question. A single quirked eyebrow highlighted her mild offense. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

"I mean, I thought you'd be busy searching up things...like Torchwick..." Yang mentioned tentatively, lining the end of it with a benign joke. "Is the library out of order or something?"

The exhaustion still lingered on her friend's face, the looming shadow of her obsession still an important feature to this day. Blake looked away at the carefully phrased remark, wearing an impassive visage. The blonde wondered if her companion would abandon her post now and head on right back to the path of self-destruction. Fortunately, the girl's reply reassured her that the previous scenario wouldn't be occurring too soon. "...I have time to take care of my partner."

'Oh sure, you don't have time to worry about your own health, but when I fall apart you can instantly materialize by my side?' The blonde bitterly thought, a combination of admiration and disbelief rising inside her chest. 'I hate that you do this to me, Blake Belladonna.'

"...Thanks." Yang didn't know what else to say. She tried not to read too much into the act. After all, the gesture was most likely a platonic one.

The faunus, though visibly relieved at the fact that the blonde was presently both conscious and coherent, still stared onward in concern. "You should get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry..." The brawler grunted truthfully.

"You're not well." Blake did not budge in the matter. "You need to eat something if you want to get better."

"Oh, I didn't know you were here, Weiss," said the blonde sarcastically then grinned weakly at her friend's less than amused countenance. "Trust me, Blake. I'm fine. I feel better already with you here."

That last comment was uncalled for. Yang felt her already warm cheeks flood with heat; she immediately rolled onto her side to face the other wall. Her partner remained silent after that and the blonde took the chance to raise the blanket over her head. The fabric had the alluring scent of her partner, causing her thoughts to muddle with a false sense of giddiness for a moment.

The fact that her crush was seated next to her, apparently nursing her back to health, should have been more than enough to label this day as a success based on Yang's parameter. But a greater realization dawned upon the blonde, shattering the illusion of happiness she wished to simmer in for a second longer.

She had passed out last night. The memory of losing unconsciousness outside of Junior's club was crystal clear to her. And the more she thought about it, the closer she got to the same conclusion: It couldn't have been a mere accident.

Instinct informed her that she was running out of time.

The pattern grew so obvious. Each day, she was losing more and more hours of consciousness. How could she have not noticed it before? With all the strangeness that was occurring in her life, tiredness didn't seem like a remarkable problem. Yet, it had become much more complicated and complex. It wasn't simple fatigue by this point.

For some unknown reason, an hour glass had been set before her. The worst part about it was that she did not know when that last particle of sand would drop into the bottom. The blonde had a sickening feeling, judging from the series of recent blackouts and the worsening conditions of her body, that one day when time rewound itself, she would be incapable of waking up. That was what she suspected, and for once she did wish for a finite answer to come to her theory.

If there was no escape, no exit off of the highway, then there was no more time left to waste anymore.

"Ruby, I just wanted to let you know that Yang's awake." She heard the muffled statement of her partner through the blankets.

There was a shrill response of relief. The brawler lifted the fabric, reemerging from them to address her younger sibling's voice.

"Hey sis," chuckled the blonde nervously, unintentionally leaning into her partner to speak into the scroll's microphone. "Sorry for making you worry."

"YANG!" Their leader cried out. "Are you okay? Do you feel any better?"

"I'm fine, Ruby." Yang cut over her sister's rant in what she hoped was a convincing tone. "No really, I'm fine."

"But... I mean... You never get sick!" Ruby retaliated, trying to validate the enormity of her concern with this piece of information.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." She lied for her sibling's benefit. "It was a bit of a fever, that's all. No big deal."

"Do you want some more company?" A fussy Weiss joined in on the conversation. "I can send Ruby back, if you want? We have Ren and Nora over here helping us out."

"No, no, it's fine." She kindly declined, glancing sideways at her quiet partner. "Blake's enough for now."

There was a short silence from the other line, after which the heiress sighed. "All right then. Make sure you get some more rest."

"Actually, we were about to go out for some fresh air." Yang ignored the -You're going to do what now?- comment from both Weiss and Ruby, riding over their words as she hastened a goodbye. "We'll see you guys later!"

Her partner looked up quizzically as the brawler forcibly disconnected the call. "Fresh air? What do you mean fresh air?"

Tossing the blankets off of herself, she stood up on the floor. It felt weird not having to jump in the air to get to the ground. The blonde changed quickly out of her comfortable clothes into her attire meant for outside ventures. Reaching up to the top bunk, she pocketed her digital device.

When she had finished her preparations, Blake was still sitting on the box, appearing confused.

"Come on." The blonde stated, her heart thumping loudly despite the fact that she was no longer afraid to grab her partner by the hand. Keeping Blake's fingers intertwined with her own, she rushed out of the dorm room.

"Yang!" Her partner struggled against the girl's tight hold. But the firm grip did not loosen, refusing to let go until they reached the courtyard near the school's front entrance. "Where are we going?"

Upon being granted its freedom, Blake's hand immediately retracted, planting itself on the girl's forehead in frustration as the brawler, for the hundredth time, did not provide any elucidation. Instead, Yang pulled out her scroll and pressed in a combination code.

There was a low rumbling from the skies above and soon a metal rectangular box plummeted into the ground next to them. The door opened automatically, revealing a large circular object in the middle of it. The blonde took it out, placed it gently on the ground, and activated it with a push of a button.

The object whirled noisily as it came to life. The air filled with the sound of mechanical din as Blake gawked in amazement, watching the small item transfigure into a large two-wheeled motorcycle. Being Yang's personal mode of transportation, its physical attributes greatly resembled the brawler's character. For one thing, it shared the same bright yellow color scheme. Its design, smooth yet sharp, advocated both speed and power.

Blake, having seen the handy version of Bumblebee for the first time, momentarily forgot about her annoyance at the blonde to genuinely ask, " _That's_ what you keep inside your locker?"

"Yup," answered Yang as she pulled out a round helmet and tinted shades from the upper part of the container. "Where else would I store my baby?"

Her partner was giving her a look of incredulity. The blonde put her hands on her waist, standing quite defiantly. "What? I don't need it to keep Ember Cecilia. These stay with me all the time."

The blonde shook her bracelets in the air. And her friend seemed to have given up on the matter, simply choosing to agree with her partner's way of logic, which wasn't wrong at all.

Yang sat down comfortably on her prized possession, placing the stylistic sunglasses over her eyes. The helmet, however, was tossed to Blake and the girl caught it in mild surprise. The blonde was patting the seat behind her, indicating for her partner to hop on. Instead of doing so, the faunus leveled a glowering glare. "I was supposed to make sure you were okay, not go on a drive with you."

"Well, think of it this way." Yang began to reason. "Going on a drive will make me feel better, so technically you'll be doing your job."

Amber met lilac, and the two gazes butted against each other in dispute. By the end of it, an unpersuaded Blake looked ready to pass the helmet back into her partner's hands. Yang, who knew what argument would be coming up next, decided to forestall.

"You're not planning on leaving me here to go search about the White Fang, are you?" The conflicted expression on her partner's face told Yang that this was indeed what the feline girl was contemplating. "Listen. Believe it or not, I've been having a pretty tough week. I know it may not come off as much, but I really need a break."

Thankfully the sentiment given her way was more concern than skepticism.

"...Just this once, Blake. Please. Just this one day..." An unexpected implore squeezed its way through Yang's closing throat, almost as timid and pitiful as a wounded animal. "Could you stay with me...?"

The faunus was obviously hesitant now with her former decision, especially after receiving a near begging from her friend, who was normally confident and abrasive enough to never sound so weak and alone. Blake observed the round object in her hands once more before letting out a relenting sigh. "Fine..."

And to the blonde's relief, the girl reluctantly took the empty space behind her.

"Hold on," Yang advised as she started the engine.

"To what?" Her partner questioned with a frown, looking around and evidently finding no handles.

The brawler let out a short hearty laugh, a sincere one she hadn't experienced in a week. "To me, duh!"

There was a delicious pause until two arms finally curled around the blonde's waist in an uncertain fashion.

"...You're going to have to hold on a lot tighter than that," Yang whispered rather hopefully.

And to her wish, the pressure around her strengthened significantly after a disgruntled mutter. Yang was glad that Blake could not see her blush. The physical touch was elating enough to overshadow another impending headache.

Kicking off from the ground, Yang whirled the motorcycle around in an aerodynamic fashion and sped off through the opened gates, out of Beacon, towards the downtown streets of Vale.

* * *

"So... Blake," started the blonde as she took off her sunglasses, tucking them safely into the front pocket of her jacket. "Where did you want to go?"

Her partner from behind mumbled, "I thought you had somewhere in mind."

"Nope, not really." Crossing her right leg over the leather seat, the blonde met the surface of the ground. She politely helped the faunus off from the vehicle as well. Taking the helmet from the girl's hands, she propped it down onto the motorcycle as both remained stationary beside a parking meter. "I figured we could just walk around."

Blake seemed like she wanted to do the quite opposite of aimlessly wandering around the streets of Vale when she could be working at the school library. But then Yang sent the girl a pleading look to remind her of why she had been dragged out here in the first place. Blake kept silent and simply retained the same pace as the strangely subdued blonde.

Surfing through the windows of different shops, the two stayed in comfortable silence. After several minutes, they turned around yet another corner and the blonde caught the scent of fresh bread and lettuce in the air.

"Lunch?" Yang suggested shortly as she pointed to a sandwich shop she had eaten with Ruby once before.

"...Sure." The faunus nodded brusquely.

Sitting down at a small table situated near the back wall of the oddly deserted shop, the blonde received two menus from the waiter. Peering inside the folded cards, she went over the selection of food that was served.

"Anything you want?" Yang glanced over the set list, only to notice that Blake hadn't even touched hers.

"I'm not very hungry," said the faunus quietly. "Just order something for yourself."

Being unnecessarily stubborn, the blonde set the laminated paper back down onto the table. "If you're not eating, I'm not eating."

Her partner frowned in disapproval. "What kind of logic is that?"

"I don't want you to just sit there and watch me eat." I wouldn't be able to swallow a single bite, argued Yang inwardly.

"Fine." Blake grunted, caving into the brawler's desires as she grabbed at her own menu to mull over.

"Oh, no need to bother actually. They make a great tuna sandwich here."

It took a moment for Yang to realize why a sudden incensed look was forming on the girl sitting opposite from her.

"...I wasn't making a joke this time!" She quickly pointed to the today's special as she held it up for the irked girl to see. "Tuna sandwich, written right at the top."

In the end, Yang ordered the aforementioned food, knowing too well that by this point the cat faunus would be too embarrassed to admit that she would be preferring the fish over anything else. They ordered one plate and shared, both nibbling at their food slowly as hunger wasn't a common trait for neither of them that day.

"How is it?" The brawler asked after a few gulps.

"It's nice" was Blake's relatively tame response to a dish composed of tuna.

The rest of the meal remained still and somber. Blake, undoubtedly, held onto the problem of hunting down the White Fang and Torchwick. Yang suspected that she also played a key role, being weighed down by her own exhaustion and gloom. If she was not the one to initiate the conversation, her partner rarely opened her mouth. And the blonde, definitely lacking in any joyous current events, did not talk much. She simply sat there, forcing down bites of baguette bread and cold tuna down her throat.

Finishing the food around the same time, they met each other's gaze and got up from their seats.

"It's on me." Yang grinned as she passed over her card to the cashier before Blake could react. The old man working at the counter completed the transaction. As she received the credit back, however, there was a loud crash echoing from outside. The blonde jerked her head to glance through the clear window and nearly doubled back in horror.

Soulless red eyes bored in on her from the distance. Black scaly skin slithered across the ground; fangs protruded out of a widely opened mouth. Its white counterpart was curving its head, appearing ready to impale through the glass doors of a bakery.

Doors of the small restaurant slammed open as the blonde frantically flung herself outside. But with a blink of an eye, the Grimm was gone. Her arms, instinctively raised and prepared to activate her weapons, fell limply back to her sides.

"Did you see that?" Yang exclaimed to her partner who had exited from the bistro with her.

Blake glimpsed over at the side of the street the blonde was goggling at but perceived nothing abnormal. "See what?"

"There was... There was a King Taijitu sitting there, right in front of that shop! It was about to crash into it!"

"...Yang, I didn't see anything."

"But..." It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. A fluke of the mind, most likely from stress. "...Nevermind then."

Her partner appeared confused as they turned to their left to walk on ahead. The light taps from her wedged heels provided the blonde with a source to mindlessly follow.

She wasn't ready to add hallucinations to her growing list of symptoms. She would rather kill herself than be truly driven insane.

After all, a Grimm attack on the city didn't make sense. No creatures of darkness could break past the kingdom's defenses on their own. So it was odd that a section of her brain was tickled by the sight of it. The scene seemed awfully familiar to her with each additional reflection.

"Yang?" The addressed girl broke out of her thoughts, retrieving her mind that was beginning to orbit out into space. The blonde noticed that she had unintentionally stopped moving her legs. "Are you okay?"

"Uh...yeah. I was just thinking. Thinking about where we should go next." She glanced up and found a sign that caught her attention. "How about here?"

Blake followed her gaze and sounded doubtful of the blonde's choice of venue. "Here...?"

Without another second thought, Yang shoved the faunus through the front doors of a book store.

It was the safest bet to take, the blonde supposed, when going on an outing with her friend. Blake, though still cross-armed, was not as irritated as she had been before, standing among her favorite items in the world. Soon enough, the faunus was roaming through the aisles as the blonde drummed her fingers on the bookshelf.

Blake moved to observe different sections here and there. Yang followed suite, peering down a few of the dusty old novels herself, until she found the title of one that was oddly familiar. Picking it up, she recalled where she had seen it before. "Hey... This is the one you were reading on our first night at Beacon."

The girl looked thoroughly impressed at the reminder. "You remembered that?"

"Of course." She grinned faintly at the memory. "How could I forget? You left a pretty big first impression. Though, it would have been better if you didn't tell me to leave at the end of it."

"You were rambling on," scoffed Blake, "complimenting my pajamas and my bow."

"Well, you weren't leaving me with much options." Yang stated in defense. After all, the awkward chit chat the blonde had attempted were all shot down by monosyllabic responses.

Sighing, Yang opened the front cover and flipped through the thick pages, words scribbled in such a tiny cryptic font the blonde could not read properly. "How did the story go again?"

"It's about a man with two souls," Blake kindly reminded her, "each fighting to take control over his body."

"Yeah... Right." It was as happy as the first time she had heard it. "How does it end again?"

"...He chooses death over life..." An extremely grim expression formed on the girl. "...as the light loses to the dark."

The conclusion wasn't very cheery either. "Oh yeah... That's a nice-"

A dazing pain resurfaced in her head. It was as if she was ambushed from the back, causing her to nearly fall over from the impact. She managed to keep her two feet on the ground, grabbing onto some piles of books for support. Shakily, she stood up again, trying to breath evenly. Despite her efforts, none of these actions went unnoticed by her shrewd partner.

"Let's go," stated the girl firmly.

"But-"

"Let's _go_." It was Blake's turn to grab the brawler by the wrist and drag her out of the cramped shop.

"-Wait!" She didn't want this day to end. Not this soon. Not so quickly. "Seriously, I'm perfectly fine. Look! If I was sick, could I do this?"

The blonde jumped a bit in the air, flexing her arms and legs in a dynamic fashion in order to prove her point. She was forced to abruptly halt however, feeling a very familiar debilitating wooziness in her head.

Blake's stare hardened. "Nice try, Yang. But we're heading back."

The rest of what her partner was saying sounded slurred. Streaks of black lines filled her vision for the second time since yesterday. She lost her balance quite easily.

Okay, the blonde admitted as she heard Blake call out to her in intense worry, the jumping jacks were a terrible idea.

.

 _"What was she thinking?! Walking off on her own in the middle of the night...in a city infested by Grimm? Oh, she couldn't bother taking a second to tap somebody on the shoulder?" The blonde did her best impersonation of Ruby as she stormed through the maze-like underground chambers. "Hey, sis! I'll be taking off for a while by myself, just to let you know, in case you have a heart attack!"_

 _"She's going to be fine, Yang." Her partner reassured in a soothing voice. "Ruby's strong. She's our team leader, remember?_ _Stop worrying about her."_

 _The upset brawler glanced to her side to see Blake, effortlessly sprinting beside her, steps as light as feathers. Crescent Rose was safely attached to the girl's back belt above her waist. Ruby, being held somewhere by an infamous terrorist organization - completely unarmed - did not bode well with the blonde at all._

 _"Yang... Come on."_

 _It was uncanny how easily her partner managed to calm her nerves, with such minuscule effort._

 _"Yeah, no, you're right. I know my sister can handle herself..." She nodded, grinning slightly in gratitude. "I just needed to blow off some steam, that's all... Sometimes she can be so reckless._ _"_

 _The girl was referring back to the time when Ruby had her first fight after being accepted two years early into Beacon Academy. She had ran straight forward into the front of a Death Stalker, outright ignoring all of her lessons at Signal which would have taught her that the opposing Grimm harbored a notoriously thick outer shell._

 _"Well, you two are sisters." A teasing smirk attempted to cheer the blonde up. "Maybe it runs in the family."_

 _The comment definitely did not go unnoticed as Yang turned her face towards the faunus, steadying her pace alongside her partner's as she retorted stubbornly. "What- I'm not that bad!"_

 _"You hurled yourself inside a giant Nevermore's mouth once." Blake gave the brawler a quick reminder of that one fight during their initiation in the Emerald Forest._

 _"That was perfectly safe," she huffed in defense._

 _"...Earlier today, you almost knocked down an entire building on yourself."_

 _"...Okay, you win this round, Belladonna." Yang scowled, though both her eyes glimmered in the usual playful light._

 _They finally arrived at a large clearing with rusty train tracks racing across the dirt._

 _"Prepare yourself, girls! We've got company." Professor Oobleck warned ominously as he came to an abrupt halt. Weiss, who stood nearest to the man, readjusted the dust chamber in her pointed M_ _yrtenaster,_ _appearing as though she did not need to be told twice._

 _A group of people, armed with rifles were standing in the far distance. She caught t_ _he red logo embedded onto the back of their white vests before they turned around. It was a fanged beast with three bloody slashes drawn underneath it. The symbol of the White Fang._

 _"Well, that's great..." With a hint of sarcasm, t_ _he blonde activated her gauntlets which sprang loudly into action._

 _After hearing so much about them on the news, this was her first time having to actually meet them in person. Before this,_ _Velvet, Sun, and Blake were the only faunus she had ever interacted with on a personal basis. And it took Yang less than a second to figure out that these men and women would certainly not be as kind towards humans as her friends had been._

 _The blonde was about to move forward, following the footsteps of the heiress and her history teacher who had went ahead, when she noticed that her partner had gone rather rigid. Lips were shut together, almost disappearing into a thin line. Her gaze was directed outwards at the approaching enemy with an inexplicable emotion._

 _Was this how Blake would have looked when she encountered the White Fang at the docks? Would the same opaque expression have landed on her partner's face the time she infiltrated the organization's meeting, disguised as a new member?_

 _"Kill the humans!" One of the White Fang members with protruding tusks roared and a shower of bullets were soon headed their way._

 _There was a remarkable change in the girl's attitude._ _A dangerous blaze emerged in her amber irises, causing the blonde to feel a bit uneasy. For a moment, her stressed mind was forced to picture her partner, wearing the identical white vest carrying the violent emblem behind her. She saw the mask, imitating the creatures of darkness, blocking out the light of her eyes. The only emotion it allowed through was anger. Yang shook her head, frightened by the madness of her own imagination._

 _Gambol Shroud detached itself from its magnetic hook on her partner's back. Two sharp blades were brought out into the air, their color as dark as the shadow upon her friend's face._

 _Yang took a cautious step forward, asking gently. "Blake...? Are you okay?"_

 _The action seemed to snap the girl out of it almost immediately._

 _The faunus blinked slowly as if waking up from a mystifying trance. There was a glint of horror and guilt being displayed in her orbs as the girl quickly turned away to survey the floor instead._

 _After a long pause, a resolved gaze rose from the ground back at her. This time, the conveyed sentiment did not cause any fear inside the blonde. "Let's go save your sister."_

 _._

She was several inches off the ground. Wind breezed past her cheeks as she found that her body was moving fairly quickly despite the fact that she wasn't using any of her muscles at all.

"Uh... Blake? You can let me down now."

The girl, who had been running as fast as she could with the blonde wrapped around her shoulders, tripped by accident, startled at the sudden voice tickling her sensitive ears.

They toppled over, earning a few laughs and curious glances from bystanders on the street. The brawler groaned, though not as much as her cat-eared companion, who had taken the brunt of the fall.

"Yang, get off. You're heavy," growled the cushion. The blonde blinked, noticing the extremely awkward position their bodies were entangled in on the cement floor.

Ignoring another flood of heat, the blonde let out a disguised cough to hide her embarrassment. Pretending to be wounded, she quipped, "Are you calling me fat?"

Instead of answering the joke, the girl beneath her wriggled free, storming up to her feet only to glower accusingly at the blonde. "What is wrong with you?"

"Me?" Yang recomposed herself, standing up to gain a height advantage. "What did I do?"

"You dropped unconscious in the middle of the street! You should have said something beforehand if you weren't feeling well!" By the level of anger coming her way, Yang felt that her partner would have been ready to draw arms if only she had brought Gambol Shroud along. "We're going back to Beacon right now and you're going to rest in the infirmary."

"No!" The blonde refused to leave, and neither did she allow her partner to do so. "The day isn't over yet. I have to do something before it's too late and I'm certainly not going to do it lying on a stupid hospital bed!"

"You can do it tomorrow!" Blake countered.

"There is no tomorrow!" There was another unforeseen attack of nausea, her body shaken by her own thunderous bellow. Moving past her shock and anger for the time being, Blake stopped Yang from scraping her knees, steadying the girl on her shoulders as they moved locations to sit down on a nearby park bench.

Heavy breathing filled the summer air. Once Yang had visibly calmed enough to speak at a normal volume, Blake opened her mouth slowly for a much needed inquiry. "Yang, what's going on?"

"There is no tomorrow," she reiterated, her voice drained of all energy and power. "This day. This Saturday. The night before the school dance. It's been on repeat for the past week and a half... But Nobody notices. Nobody senses it but me... All of you guys... You forget about today, then when it comes around again...you act like you're experiencing it for the first time."

Blake's subsequent voice sounded almost frightened. "You- You're not making any sense."

"On the first day, I didn't think much of it." The blonde continued on despite this, not bothering to meet her partner's gaze. "I thought my semblance had gone berserk or something and that suddenly I was left with this power to see the future. But nope, I woke up next morning to the exact same day. And the day after that... And the day after that."

"...Why haven't you mentioned this before?"

"I did," replied Yang shortly. "I told Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch... I even ran into Professor Oobleck a few days back for some advice. But they didn't have an answer. And once the sun went down, it didn't matter anyway... I told Ruby. I told Weiss... Nothing stuck with them either."

After a short pause, Yang finally lifted up her head to stare at her friend.

"You're looking at me like I'm insane." Blake would have been worried of offending the blonde, if in fact Yang hadn't been smiling understandingly at her. "It's okay to think that. I mean, I thought I was too. And who knows, maybe I am... But I'm not lying."

It took a while before the faunus could make usage of her tongue again. There were prolonged minutes of silence, mostly of Yang observing calmly as the feline girl beside her appeared mightily troubled.

"...I don't understand a lot of what you told me," she finally conceded in response. " I- I don't know if you _are_ crazy... But I know you're not lying. I believe you... Yang. Of course, I believe you."

She knew Blake would, not out of some egotistical confidence, but because she had told Blake this story before.

On the third day of the cycle, she had divulged her predicament to her friend. And she had taken it, with much haste, but with trust and support at the end. She had stated those exact words to her. But how would she know? To Blake, this conversation was occurring for the first time.

She chose to find pleasure in the fact that Blake would always believe in her. Yang rested her tired head on top of the girl's left shoulder. It was a bit stiff at first, but her partner soon relaxed into the gesture. Yang breathed in her crush's scent, mystified by the comfort she felt despite the migraine.

"Blake, I think I'm falling in love with you," she confessed, slipping the phrase out so easily and smoothly. The shoulder she was resting on immediately grew rigid, yet she decided not to care anymore. "It's probably too early for me to say something like that, but what I know for certain is that life would suck without you. I don't even know how or when it started... That's the truth. That's what I didn't have the guts to say for the longest ten days of my life..."

She kept her eyelids shut, praying silently that her pillow wouldn't pull away from her in disgust. Thankfully, Blake did not run nor did she reject. She simply stayed fixed, listening silently in her seat.

"For some reason, I thought telling you how I felt would somehow break the jinx. That my regret of not having asked you out to the dance myself was somehow holding time back. So I tried telling you the day before yesterday...and I ended up kissing you." Yang silently communicated a deep apology to her partner as she had performed the act without permission.

"But the next morning, I woke up to the same Saturday. And you couldn't tell me what I had done..." The resignation in her voice startled her own heart. "So there's no point in telling you this anymore, is there? Because you won't remember..."

The brawler laughed weakly at the irony of it. She was trembling without knowing why. "It's so stupid how easy it is to say these words now... now that they won't ever matter anymore. I always did have the worst timing ever."

"...I will remember." A solidified statement broke her wallows. She couldn't lift her head to see her partner's face, but she imagined that it wore the same emotion of determination that was laced onto the girl's tone.

Sleep was creeping onto Yang once more. The blonde had been so eager to waste the hours away in the beginning. Now she was desperate enough to clutch onto barely a second of more time.

Please, she begged, please let tomorrow come.

She heard one last whisper in the dark. "I promise... I won't forget."


	21. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 6)

_It was certain to her that she had been close to death. As Yang lost consciousness, from her first loss in battle, she was cruelly reminded of the fact that this wasn't a joke. She was no longer protected, guarded by the safe walls of the school. She was out here, in the real world, facing opponents who didn't fight to merely injure, but to kill. This wasn't a simulated fight, one supervised by her professors and fellow teammates. One mistake would cost the loss of her life._

 _Yet when she came to, she hadn't been left with worse. Her opponent was gone. Through her hazy field of vision, Yang caught the back figure of a tall woman dressed in red and black, seemingly vanishing into thin air as she sat up from the cold floor._

 _It took a moment for the blonde to properly stand. Her hands instinctively reached for the side of her head, rubbing the place of injury formed when she had been knocked out._

 _Any conjectures on her mysterious rescuer could wait. She couldn't take the chance to rest now. Not when her teammates were somewhere on this train, facing enemies that were far more dangerous and vicious than she ever imagined them to be._

 _Underestimation. The usual misjudgment of her capabilities, disillusioned by the thrill of the moment and the confidence of her own skills._

 _She ran up to the next room and found it to be empty. Skipping past the deserted compartment, Yang wasn't sure if she should be comforted by the fact that her friends weren't there. It wasn't after three stops that she found a body sprawled across the cold floor. Her breath eased instantly as she recognized the man's bright orange hair and accessorized cane._

 _Roman Torchwick. Blake and Weiss must have managed to take him down somehow. Yang's fists tightened, fighting the urge to land a few punches on him despite the evident bruise already forming on the right side of his cheek. He could wait until later, decided Yang as she stepped over his body._

 _Her decision was rewarded with the opening of the next door._ _She found herself staring at a backside of a tall bulky man._

 _Yang immediately located her teammates across from him. Her anxious heart tightened even more at the sight of an unconscious Weiss. Blake, who could only half-wield her weapon with the heiress in her arms, was glaring up at the man in the white mask. The member of the White Fang, stopped his engagement with Blake and turned to survey the third unwanted guest. The sound of a roaring chainsaw surged into the air. A mark of fear flashed in her partner's eyes._

 _"Watch out!" The blonde didn't need to be told otherwise as she effectively rolled away from the man's slasher blade. He growled, slicing into the metal wall as he missed his mobile target. Yang sent a punch towards his open shoulder in retaliation; the man took the hit, staggered back, then charged forward with even greater malice._

 _Bang! A shot ricocheted inside the train. The man retreated for a millisecond before changing the aim of his next strike towards the faunus who had fired from the end of her pistol. Blake raised the flat side of Gambol Shroud in front of her and Weiss. Yang chose to dive forward in between them, recklessly taking the murderous intent for herself._

 _Flung into the air, she whizzed past her partner's shouts and smashed into the opposite side of the compartment._

 _Pain, mixed with accumulated energy, entered into her system once more._

 _Her aura was low already. She couldn't risk another hit._

 _Panting heavily, she lunged herself at the man despite her friend's warnings. She exerted everything she could into the one punch. The menacing weapon dropped onto the ground as the masked man was sent hurtling through the doors into the previous segment of the train. He laid still in the distance._

 _She massaged her knuckles, feeling the throbs run across her protruding bones._ _That wasn't her best performance, self-assessed Yang. He would gain consciousness soon. There wasn't much time to waste. The blonde quickly turned to face her partner's bomb-shelled expression. Blake looked as if she wanted to say something important, but at that moment the form between them chose to stir._

 _Electric blue eyes reunited with the party, blinking slowly at the two goggling down at her in worry. Immediately, she began to struggle, choosing to quickly worm out of Blake's hold._

 _Yang frowned as she watched Weiss sway a bit. "Are you all right?"_

 _"Of course I'm all right," the heiress said in a disgruntled tone as she stubbornly got back to her feet without the other's support. She stared at Blake in silence after that. The faunus chose not to linger. A proper "thank you" could wait until later._

 _"Come on. We need to stop the train." The other two nodded in response to the girl's comment. They rushed inside the next room, which was larger and more vacant than the previous ones. A large front window provided them with the outside view. The train was storming through the underground channel. Yang had a sickening hunch that the tunnel would be coming to an end soon._

 _The blonde panned around the room, scanning each button and lever to see which one would come to their aid. "How do we slow this thing down?"_

 _"We can't!"_ _Weiss, who had also been analyzing the controllers in the room, shouted hysterically. "_ _There are no brakes!"_

 _"What?" The air around Yang was ignited with visible flames. "What kind of a train doesn't have any brakes!"_

 _The trio already knew the answer. Blake remained as vocal as ever; The only emotion left for interpretation was anger. Weiss turned her gaze away in defeat, frustrated by her own helplessness as well._

 _Loud crashes were emitted from_ _above the ceiling, freeing them from further misery. Clunks of footsteps could be heard over their heads._

 _"Ruby." And with that one word, Yang hurried out of the room. Punching a large hole through the train's ceiling, the blonde launched herself into the air. Grabbing the rectangular metal edges, she heaved her body forward._

 _The direct noise of the accelerating train nearly caused her to turn deaf. Harsh moving wind flew past her hair as she crawled out of the compartment back onto the top of the train._

 _Their fearless leader stood a few meters before them, staring out at the rumbling distance with an unreadable expression._ _The lone figure of her younger sister appeared quite calm despite the looming presence of danger. Yang couldn't help but feel proud; She had grown up so fast._

 _"What do we do?" Blake asked, horror laced into her tone at their impending doom._

 _Ruby and Weiss shared a short glance. The both of them gave each other a small understanding nod. Yang watched as the heiress took her weapon and spiraled it into the air, the dust chamber twirling as she lunged it into the surface below their feet. Instinctively, Yang ran forward, watching as Blake mimicked her movement, joining in the tight circle of embrace as frozen fractals solidified around them like a spiked cocoon._

 _A few seconds of agonized waiting._

 _Then came the explosion._

.

Ice. She woke to the sound of shattering ice.

The invisible mineral shards scattered into the air, sharpened edges brushing past her arms used to shield her face. The noise reverberated inside the blonde's ears as she dropped onto the ground, toppling off of the park bench where she had been sleeping.

A train, she had been on one that was destined to crash. Yang scrambled to her feet, adrenaline already fueling majority of her body from the dream, the dream that felt closer and more real to her than anything before.

Her five sense receptors went faulty, causing her to perceive things she knew they weren't there. She caught the smell of burnt metal and molten concrete. She felt soreness in her unbroken arms. She smelled blood. It took several lengthy seconds before her nose could draw in the scent of trees and the fresh air of dawn instead.

Yang groaned, massaging her temples as she tried to hold onto the crucial details. She wasn't alone. The entire team had been there... Yet when did this happen? The scene seemed too illogical to call it a memory. However, it was undoubtedly familiar. The answer was at the tip of her tongue. A few more seconds of mulling it over and she may have reached a conclusion.

But it was pointless. The back of her mind was slipping, already deeply occupied with a divergent matter.

The bench behind her was empty with the start of a new morning. Yang checked and double-checked, making sure that the place where her partner had been seated next to her was truly vacant. Her tense fingers cruised the surface of it out of lingering bitterness. The top layer was cold despite the rising sun in the east.

At first, she distracted herself with a pitiful attempt at optimism. Look on the bright side, Yang forced herself to believe: You're still here. You're still alive.

But that hadn't been all that was troubling her. It took a moment before the brawler could figure out exactly what it was. It wasn't the presence of something. It was the obvious lack of it.

Silence.

A gut-wrenching silence.

The city. She was still in the downtown streets of Vale.

The area was sprinkled with bright colors, opposing the traumatizing sentiment rising inside her stomach. The decorations for the upcoming Vytal Festival flourished the walls and lampposts. The roads, a perfect river of tarmac, gently prodded on by a sea of vehicle tires. Traffic lights blinked on and off in a systematic pattern, controlling the cars and the crossing pedestrians. The only problem was that nobody was around to bring them into usage. Trucks, emptied of passengers. Streets, emptied of life. Even a slow morning for a town could not be this untenanted.

Breathing rather irregularly, the blonde walked through the city.

"Hello?" Yang called out as she addressed no one in particular. Her pace quickened with each added observation. The entire district resembled an abandoned ghost town, so absent of signs of life that she felt like an anomalous piece to the puzzle. "Is anyone out there?"

The time. There was no way of checking the time. She had no scroll on her. Nobody was around for her to ask for the date. There wasn't a single clock in sight.

Dashing down the way she and Blake had walked yesterday, she went back to the heart of the city, but Bumblebee was no longer perched near a parking meter. She swore that this was the spot where she had left it. If it was gone, it would mean the inevitable. Her mode of transportation had most likely transported back into her locker, the space it was stored in at the beginning of today. Reality had kept her at gunpoint, from the moment she awoke without Blake by her side. She didn't want to believe it. She refused to believe it.

Something must have changed, she reasoned. After all, _she_ hadn't returned to the same dormitory bed at 7:58 in the morning. Ruby and Weiss weren't popping out from a nearby room door. And nothing about the city, not a single tiny aspect of its dead solitude seemed right.

Whether or not she should be happy about this sudden change, Yang did not know. Real panic began to seize hold of her with the prolonged quietude. Rationality began to lose its pitiful fight, overpowered by a boundless amount of fear.

Her footsteps turned thunderous, feeling even louder to her own ears as sound ricocheted across the pavement with no other distraction present. The silence was almost suffocating, maddening to a certain degree. The experience was surreal, as if someone was tampering with her mind.

Yang peered into the shop windows. Lights were turned off inside; the owners of the stores were unavailable to contact. This was ridiculous. She pounded on the last door of the boulevard. The sun was already up. Business hours began quite early in a busy coast kingdom like Vale. Yet, not a soul materialized before her. "Oh, come on!"

Beacon. She would have to try her luck at the school. Ruby would be there. Just hearing her sister's voice, seeing the bright shade of silver would make her feel better. Weiss. She would be sipping on her morning coffee while working on the bleak dance hall. Blake, her teammate, her last remaining hope. She would be at the library. Her existence alone both a source of her happiness and torment.

Steering around a pointy corner, she decided to take a short cut through the main road. While doing so, she accidentally slammed into a figure who was moving too fast for her to foresee. The person yelped out in surprise and jumped back a few meters before landing hard onto the ground.

"Blake?" Disbelief poured into the blonde as she gawked down at her partner's disheveled state of being. Dark circles still remained on the girl's pale countenance. Now, instead of just stress and exhaustion, panic and fear was instilled onto her feline visage.

Though dazed herself, Yang still offered the girl a hand. Blake took the gesture as she stood back up on her shaky feet.

"Yang! What is going on?" This was by far the most disorganized she had seen her partner in terms of sentences. "The dance- Ruby. Weiss. They...!"

Dread captured the blonde at once. "Did something happen to them?"

"No!" The faunus appeared to visibly cringe as she thought out loud. "They're... They're not making any sense."

There was a dramatic pause as two racing hearts communicated in silence.

"You were right," whispered Blake in vanquish. "It's Saturday. It's still Saturday. I- I _remember._ "

The world stopped revolving as the message sank in. Those words seeped through the pores of her skin, spreading slowly like a heavenly drug. An euphoric sedative. She was consumed by such a powerful sense of elation and relief. For the past eleven days, Yang had been converted into a servant of time. And after so long, she had finally managed to defeat it.

It was barely a victory. Far from total defeat. But she could settle for this.

Her body neglected proper control. Yang pulled her friend into the tightest embrace she could muster without fracturing any bones. The faunus was shaking slightly in her arms, the same shivers Yang had experienced on the first day of her nightmare. Was it selfish for her to feel this happy?

Suddenly, there was the return of pain and guilt. Her emotions were complex and not readily verifiable. Should she feel responsible for subjugating her best friend to the same horror of a repetitive mundane life? Her partner, who was possibly even more set upon the idea of moving forward, carrying her life with a deep sense of purpose and justice?

"I'm sorry... You don't understand how much this means to me..." murmured the brawler, almost close to a complicated form of tears. "How... I love you so much, Blake."

"...Yang..." The girl fidgeted away from her. An even darker storm was brewing on her face. "...It's not... We need to figure out what's happening."

"What do you think I've been trying to do all this time?" The blonde whispered, working hard not to sound too dejected. "I've tried everything."

"There must be something..." The faunus muttered as she peered around the town. A confused frown formed on her lips as she finally noticed the oddity of their surrounding atmosphere. "Why is there no one around...?"

"I don't know!" Yang shouted, wishing more than anything to be of use to her companion. "I woke up and the city was just...empty."

"There has to be an explanation for this." The girl bared her teeth in frustration. "There has to be."

"That's the problem! We don't have any-" A razor-edged hiss halted the response as another vision flashed inside her brain.

Blake leaned forward, carefully observing her partner in visible concern. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No... Nothing. It's nothing... Just a..." There was another searing stab across the back of her head. Yang grabbed at the spot, rubbing against it in futile effort. "Have we- Have we ever been on a train before?"

The faunus returned her with an appropriate look of perplexity.

"I keep seeing this...train," she elaborated in a low groan. "The whole team. We were on it."

This seemed to rekindle nothing for Blake, who made her following suggestion in a hesitant fashion. "Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

"...I used to think so." Incensed, Yang forced some more pressure on her invisible injury. "Now I'm not so sure..."

The faded statement of her uncertainty was interrupted by an odd tremor from the ground. The pair exchanged a glance, at first deciding that it must have been a fluke. Then the vibrations grew stronger and more vivid. The top parts of Blake's bow jerked in alarm.

Sensing a presence that the blonde could not find in time, the faunus pounced forward, pushing both herself and her partner out of harm's way as a mighty eruption roared in their near vicinity. Pieces of debris flew everywhere.

Yang coughed, hacking out the unpleasant taste of sand and smoke out of her lungs as she tried to disperse the yellow dust out of the air. Something large and metal had burst through the cement linings of the city.

"That- That's it!" The brawler pointed in horror as she recognized its front exterior. "That's the train I saw! Where did it come from?"

Blake was busy with a whole other issue. Gleaming red eyes instantly surrounded them as growling creatures began to crawl out of the enormous hole in the ground.

"Grimm!" Her partner paled considerably at the sight. "How did they get past the kingdom's barriers?"

There was no time for more questions, Yang thought, as she saw that there were other forms of life moving in the aftermath. Out of the dust cloud that slowly dissipated stood four figures. Yang activated Ember Cecilia, prepared to apprehend the culprits who were responsible for the disturbance. But when she saw the familiar color scheme of red, white, black, and yellow, her brain instantly went numb.

Standing before her, raised on an elevated platform, were Ruby and Weiss, both wielding their weapons as they looked upon the monsters in determination. Blake was there as well, unperturbed by the scene that had unfolded as she stood directly behind...a bush of flaming golden hair.

"Blake. Is that...us?" Her dry throat croaked out for a confirmation of the impossible.

"...Blake?" Yang turned to her left, expecting to see the original form of her partner. But she was gone.

Before the blonde could recover, there was the shot of gunfire, marking the beginning of the battle. Deafening sirens rang overhead. She was utterly sure that she could hear shrieks of terror although there was nobody around. Yang watched as she saw the replica of herself propel into the air using Ember Cecilia, blasting a few Ursa on the ground before being caught off guard by the claws of flying Nevermores.

Instinct told her to follow. Yang ran towards the spot where her form would have ungracefully crashed onto solid earth. The blonde, though separated from the group, fought on fiercely by herself. Yang didn't know what to say as she watched from the sidelines. The way the figure played with her gauntlets; the heedless punches and kicks - all of them evidently belonged to her. The girl in the distance was her perfect clone.

But how was this possible? She was _there_ , undoubtedly fighting for her life. Yet, she was also _here_ , simply standing and watching as nobody around her, not even the Grimm, noticed her presence.

There was an animal howling at the sun. Her stomach suddenly felt heavy, as if her body knew something her mind did not. Yang studied in shock as her identical form was brought down onto the ground, incapable of movement after an stealthy attack from behind.

"Yang!" A cry addressed her from across the street. She was quickly reminded that it hadn't exactly been directed at _her_. Blake practically ran through her, as if she was some insignificant obstacle. The faunus charged forward, Gambol Shroud in hand, wildly slashing away a horde of Grimm standing in the way.

Her friend cradled a limp body in her arms. "Yang! Hold on!"

The blonde watched as her copied figure was washed over in a dark purplish light; her feline partner, out of sheer desperateness, was attempting to share her own energy.

Yang peered at her own hands, which were glowing in the same violet hue. The aching pain at the back of her head felt temporarily nullified.

It triggered something deep within her, something that had been dying to break free. Blake's aura: It was a fuzzy sort of feeling, like falling into a newly purchased bed - a bit cold at first, but eventually bundling her in unforgettable warmth and comfort. Unforgettable. Unforgettable...

And then, she remembered.

Memories flooded inside, overwhelming her in a flurry of chaotic recollection.

This cursed Saturday hadn't been stationary.

It had once moved past her, inviting over Sunday. The night of the school dance had already happened. She'd seen Blake arrive at the ballroom, arms locked with Sun. With both happiness and gratitude, her partner had requested her with the first dance of the evening, just as she had been promised.

.

 _"I told you she would come... Just...not with me..."_

 _._

She had left the party early – fled was the more proper word to use. Angry, hurt, and confused by the feelings swirling inside her as she watched her partner dance her remaining time with somebody else.

.

 _"You're leaving early."_

 _"...If I had asked you first... Would you have said yes?"_

 _._

After the event, it had become nearly impossible to ignore her growing sentiments. The jokes, the fun and banter, were all effectively tossed at her own expense to cover up the truth. The truth being that she was falling irretrievably in love with her best friend.

.

 _"Look who's got my back."_

 _._

Her partner, it was always her partner.

And she aimed to be there for her as well. Like the time...when they went on a tag-along mission to Mountain Glenn with Professor Oobleck. That had been such an important memory! How could she have forgotten...

.

 _"Prepare yourself, girls! We've got company."_

 _"Kill the humans!"_

 _"...Blake...? Are you okay?"_

 _"...Let's go save your sister."_

.

Then the freight train. They had joined up with Ruby and tracked Torchwick onto it. But the train was slowly decoupling itself. Bombs were situated in each compartment, programmed to detonate and create massive holes in the tunnel for the Grimm to crawl through.

The team had split up in attempt to stop the train before it led the monsters into the city. She had faced a formidable opponent with pink and brown hair, annoyingly posing in silence with her deadly umbrella.

She had lost the battle, passing out after a particularly strong hit. When she came to, her enemy was gone and she thought she saw a glimpse of a woman clad in red and black.

She had reconvened with the others. Realization came upon them that there were no brakes to pull. They would have to brace for impact. Weiss had produced a force field of ice for them, shielding the team from the crash as the train powered through blocked cement.

That dream! The dream that had woken her up this morning!

That was it.

There was a breach in the city. It explained the Grimm that she saw, the visions that she had been having. Her brain was fighting all this time for her to remember.

She had gone off on her own, taking the battle a bit too far, even for her. The last thing she remembered was being surrounded by a group of monsters, completely depleted of aura when that one huge Ursa unexpectedly slashed at her from behind. She heard Blake rush to her side, calling out her name in terrified concern. Yang tentatively rubbed the back of her head. There was a sort of tingling as she brushed past her hair onto her scalp. She felt a foreign crease that ran from the center down to the start of her neck. The only thing missing was the blood.

But how did she get from there...to here, to the day before the school dance?

This battle, meant to occur days into the future, was unfolding in front of her now, completely excluding her as an innocent bystander rather than a participant, forcing puppets to replay what had happened in such excruciating detail.

What had happened to her during the interim?

No ideas or answers came to mind. And before she could contemplate any further, the scene faded before her, the figures disappearing into vapor as the memory reeled close to an abrupt end. She wished they hadn't gone.

Like the state of her mind, buildings around her began to crumble to the ground, pieces of debris and glass tangling into piles of mess. Street lamps struggled to stay fixed as they wiggled and were ultimately uprooted from the cement road, each one causing a deep indentation on the pavement as it fell. The cracks grew larger as the zigzagged streaks stretched outwards, the split ends conjoining together to build a web.

The ground beneath her sank a few meters, causing her to trip backwards. It took only a second for the entire road to collapse into complete darkness. Yang gaped in horror as she watched the avenue of the city fall apart, large chunks of it melting into shadows. She stood in the middle of it, alone, unable to escape, gawking at the torrid sun above the abyss that was setting at an alarming rate.

She needed to escape. Yang regained the senses in her limbs as she urged her legs to run out of the way of a descending building. But no matter how hard she tried, even if she had Ruby's semblance of speed, it was impossible to leave the disaster behind.

Something warm resided in the shadows. Up ahead, she spotted the only source of illumination in the dark. And it was gleaming in a familiar shade of purple.

Black engulfed everything as it began to wrap around her ankles, sneakily crawling up to the mid-section of her thighs.

Without turning back, Yang hurled herself into the glowing light.

* * *

Droplets of rain pelted downwards. The sun was lost, replaced with the dull gloom of a crumbling full moon.

Yang was standing in the streets, her outfit becoming drenched by the sudden downpour. Not a single part of this district was familiar to her at all. She felt the uncomfortable feeling of soaked clothing sticking onto her skin.

There were loud voices, screams more like. People were running scared, jolting away from something as they careened around a corner towards her direction. They were dashing past her, one of them was glancing over his shoulder and ended up smashing head first into her chest. He staggered back and Yang took the chance to grab him by both ends of his shoulders.

"What the hell is going on?" She demanded.

"The faunus!" He gasped in fright. "Those protesters have gone mad!"

Her grasp loosened at his words, allowing the man to reconvene with the hurrying crowd.

Yang turned her head and conveniently saw a reporter broadcasting the news on a large television screen. A live footage of hundreds of faunus demonstrators, running angry on the streets, holding up ugly signs. The bottom heading was reading, "Breaking News: The aftermath of the Dust mining accident has left dozens killed and hundreds more injured."

"...The President of the Schnee Dust Company still refuses to deal with the matter as investigators continue to speculate the causes. Meanwhile, an uncontrolled mob of faunus right activists have gathered into the streets..."

Yang didn't want to listen to any more of what the reporter had to say. She didn't have to.

She remembered this particular event from her childhood. She was only ten years old at the time...but even without much knowledge about what was happening around the world, Yang had understood that there had been a terrible accident.

Yes, this was an incident she remembered in the past, far into the past. How long had she skipped back in time now?

She was reeled out of her thoughts as a piercing explosion ricocheted across the streets. The noise was tumultuous, its volume that of a detonated bomb.

As usual, Yang found herself scampering towards the sign of mortal peril, towards the streets the people were flooding out from. Turning a sharp corner, her nose immediately caught onto the smell of acidic smoke. A dust shop was being set ablaze. Its shopkeeper, abandoning his post, ran out the doorway in panic, leaving thousands of merchandise to burn and to erupt into erratic outbursts of energy.

A lone figure stood by the scene. A young girl, wearing scraggly clothes, and a black scarf wrapped around her thin pale neck. Two kitty ears decorated the top of her head. Even though Yang only saw the side of her face, she knew that the child was crying, tears falling with the rain...though not out of sadness, not even out of fear. The minor was staring up at the burning building with a look of unsatisfied anger.

She wasn't shocked by the fact that it had been a young, defenseless girl, who had seemingly committed the act of terror. That was only a small percentage of the matter. What really shocked the blonde was that when the girl jerked around, sensing another's presence, the color of her irises was such an intimate hue of amber.

"...Blake?" The way the young girl stepped back, in a slight flinch, only confirmed her fears.

"Who- Who are you?" The child responded back with a quiver. It took a moment for Yang to listen past the shaking vocal chords to recognize parts that would deepen to better suit her partner later on. "How do you know my name?"

The girl began to retreat towards an opening of an old alleyway, appearing ready to make a run for it. Despite this act of vulnerability, she was gripping onto a handle of a double-edged blade, which she pulled out from her pocket in self-defense.

"It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you." Yang attempted to say in a pacifying tone as she approached the miniature form of her friend. But the small girl did not believe this at all as she began swinging her weapon in dangerously broad arcs, forcing the blonde to momentarily pull back in caution. The girl's strikes were surprisingly accurate for such a young age, markedly resembling the stances and offensive moves she would be able to utilize with Gambol Shroud in the future.

"Get away from me, human!" She had emphasized the last word with such disgust and contempt that Yang became fixed to the ground. She had become used to a wide array of emotions from her initially reserved partner. Normally, the feline girl did wear her usual impassive expression, keeping her calm and mysteriously cool demeanor in most situations. At certain times though, she displayed mild irritation, usually directed towards members of the team when they poked fun at the fact that she was part-cat, like the time Yang had offered her cans of tuna in order to appease the girl after sullying one of her books in mud.

There were even signs of intense anger, when there were moments of wrongful injustice against her people or towards general acts of evil. But no, it had never been pure unadulterated hatred. The kind of look bigoted humans glowered down upon the faunus, and the one of equal disdain that the faunus returned them with.

The word "human" had never been spoken out of Blake's mouth in such a fashion. Never as a method of creating a distance, constructing a territorial division as if the word established such a firm fundamental difference between the two, so unalike that no amount of effort, act of kindness, or offered handshakes of friendship could ever be strong enough to overcome the invisible barrier.

No, not like that. Never like that.

But this wasn't the partner she learned to know in the future. This was her partner in the past, when she was without friends, when her sole family was the White Fang, an organization that would have fed on the angry emotions she possessed inside.

She had expressed her sentiments about the subject to Blake, just once during the aftermath of finding out about her secret cat ears. Yang had adamantly stated that she didn't care what she was or who she had been throughout her life. She wanted to accept the girl she grew to love as exactly as she was – a private but strong-spoken and strong-willed individual who cared about people, all kinds of people.

Yang would say this in the future. But for now, all that mattered to her was the present. And in the present, all she saw was a poor, troubled young girl, who needed to be told that there was a different way of living life than the one she would forcibly choose for the following years of her adolescence.

She approached the child again, who immediately continued with the assailing. But with advanced years of fighting experience, Yang sidestepped the girl's attacks and caught the hand holding the blade with a firm but gentle force. Against all odds, she pulled the small kid into her arms, like she used to hold Ruby when she awoke from a terrible nightmare.

"It's going to be okay, Blake, trust me. Everything's going to be okay."

She didn't care if this would create some sort of a strange altercation in time; she didn't worry about the paradoxes, the rules, the consequences of what would happen if she interfered with the girl's life. All she wanted to do was comfort the child who would grow to become the caring partner she fell in love with.

"...Yang?"

Pools of lilac blinked at the call of her name. Breaking the forced hug, she stared down at the little girl. The younger Blake was gaping up at the blonde, mouth hanging open in shock, tears were pouring down, wetting her cheeks alongside the pouring rain.

The young girl provided no indication that she had spoken. After all, that would not have made any sense. How could Blake know her name, if they weren't supposed to meet until they were seventeen? However, she was so certain that someone had addressed her.

"Yang?" There it was again. Unmistakably, it came from behind her. The voice was similar to the one the young girl had spoken with, simply lower in pitch and calmer through greater age.

Carefully turning around, Yang discovered Blake Belladonna – the one she knew for sure with long raven black hair and a delicate bow sitting on top of her head. Her partner was staring at her, standing only a few feet away.

"What...?" The blonde flipped around, her pupils darting back and forth, checking to see if she was hallucinating or not. But no matter how hard she looked, she saw two figures in her field of vision. Two figures of the same person, several years apart on the road of life.

"How... How can there be two of you?" Yang stared back down at the young girl. But the child form of her friend was distracted, her attention being diverted by a loud shouting coming from across the alley. A horde of policemen were bombarding into the shadows.

"There she is! Grab her!" There was a clattering sound of metal as Blake's miniature form accidentally dropped the blade in her hand. She sped out of reach from Yang, a clear mark of fright on her features. The girl swiveled around, dodging a lunge towards her shirt, as she tried to make a run for it. But the officers managed to catch her by the arm, roughly pulling her onto the ground. The young girl still struggled.

"Let me go! Let me-"

One man in uniform kicked the little girl in the stomach and she doubled over, gasping for breath. Yang's gauntlets were already activated onto her wrists. Fire blazing red, she was about to rail on the soldiers when a strong pressure grabbed her by the shoulder, yanking her aside from the scene.

"Don't..." The older Blake whispered. "Leave them."

"But they- They're hurting you! Blake, what the hell is going on?" Her friend followed the blonde's glance at her own beaten childhood form. "How are you here...and...? And there?"

Her companion's eyes did not return back to her. Instead, the girl muttered weakly in question, "Why are _you_ here?"

"I... I don't know why I'm here!" That was the infuriating truth. "I was at the breach in the city! And then... I think I got knocked out. Then I was back at the school dance and now... Now... Blake, is this the past?"

There was no reply. The cat faunus continued to wear an expression of anguish and pain that the blonde couldn't stand to see. Blake looked tired and worn out, not in the same way she had been during the sleepless nights obsessing over her search for Torchwick. Her partner's present demeanor was much worse.

"Blake, talk to me! Where are we? Are we back in time?"

She willed with every fiber in her body for Blake to at least face her while she was talking. But the girl maintained her sullen gaze elsewhere.

"...Back in time?" reiterated the feline girl in a confused murmur. "I don't understand what you're saying..."

Her friend's somber visage finally opted to meet the storming color of lilac. "Yang, is it...really you?"

"What?" The comment doubled the intake of confusion for the blonde. "Of course it's me! Who else could I be?"

"...This warmth..." Her partner's soft fingers trickled down the exposed part of her left arm. "You feel so real."

An exhilarated shiver ran down the blonde's spine at the gentle physical contact. The temperature in her body spiked. Falling drops of water practically sizzled upon reaching the blonde's blazing skin.

There was another roaring explosion disrupting the tender moment. Then a swarm of angry White Fang members began to tear themselves through the alley. The once raised pickets were now cast aside onto the ground, as men and women, teenagers and even young children, turned to their fists instead. They were shouting as they charged towards the policemen, who instantly became the minority, the victims of the night.

A violent skirmish was imminent. Yang could sense the bloodthirst in the air, and soon the streets were filled with outraged cries of fury and several shots of gunfire. The young Blake had disappeared amidst the crowd of the rowdy faunus protesters. Violence. The beginning traces of the monstrosity the White Fang would soon come to encompass.

One of the activists had spotted them, as a man with visible tusks pointed in their direction while yelling incoherently to his friends over the crowd.

"You need to leave," stated Blake sharply as they backed off from the approaching crowd.

"I'm not leaving!" The blonde made a point by grabbing the girl's hand. "Not without you!"

"You don't understand! This isn't real!" Her teammate steered away from the armed workers, begging as she forced the brawler to look at her. "You need to wake up."

"...Wake up? ...But... I'm not asleep."

Her reasoning fell short at her partner's despairing expression.

"Yang. Wake up. Please, wake up."

And then her teammate did something unthinkable.

She kissed her, right on the mouth; the action was tense and short due to the rising chaos around them. But it was still tender and warm. It was everything she dreamed it would be when done right. It tasted of freedom and bliss.

So why did her body feel weaker with each second of breath?

There was a harsh push against her shoulders. Blake had forcefully ended the kiss once again. This time, realized Yang, it was for her own benefit. Muscular arms grabbed hold of her partner from behind. Her friend didn't resist as she was pulled. Offering no struggle, the girl seemed almost resolved as she allowed herself to be taken into the mayhem. Her gaze stayed fixated, watching with dilated pupils as the blonde before her slowly turned transparent.

Don't hurt her! Yang wanted to shout. Blake, take off your bow! Make them stop! Yet, her mouth wasn't there. In fact, she could no longer feel ownership over a solid body.

She became part of the air. Then the moon. Then the ascending darkness.

* * *

Confused.

Disoriented.

The smell of fresh mint and overly ventilated air.

Stiff fingers twitched back to life, the texture of fabric swathed around them.

A soft presence near her legs shuffled and moved.

Several strands of another's hair tickled the sides of her right ear and cheek.

Eyes opened to squint up at widened golden orbs, etched with worry and indescribable relief.

Her own throat felt raspy and parched.

A shrill voice rang adjacent to her. Her ears were pounding a bit in pain. She was forced to read the small girl's lips instead: You're awake! You're awake... Yang...

There was a few barks of glee echoing from underneath.

The heiress stood behind their leader, appearing immensely consoled, more than she would admit to being during the latter part of the day.

A moment of clarity.

An epiphany.

Reality.


	22. Tomorrow Makes It Better (Part 7)

It was uncanny having to watch her fall, seeing her normally exuberant older sister lying so still on a white hospital bed. Granted, the injury could have been much worse, Ruby told herself repeatedly. They were training to become huntresses, protectors of the world against the creatures of Grimm. Cuts and injures were inevitable parts of the job description. She knew that. Nonetheless, the young girl was unnerved by the sight that had unfolded several hours earlier.

Their efforts to stop the train before reaching the city had evidently ended poorly. Even with Professor Oobleck, a professional hunter, by their side, the task had met a pitiful conclusion. She didn't think the situation could possibly get worse as she slayed giant monsters in her path. That was, of course, until she saw Blake rush back to their side near the end of the battle, carrying a bleeding blonde on her shoulders.

As usual, Ruby tried to look on the bright side. The city's protection hadn't been completely disabled, merely prodded on. Help had come relatively swiftly, not only in the form of team JNPR and team CFVY, but also the android army sent from Atlas. Peace had been restored within the walls of Vale. Roman Torchwick had been taken into custody by General Ironwood. And Yang, though having received a harsh blow to the back of her head, was back at Beacon Academy.

The fearless leader sighed as she remained inside the school infirmary, her legs dangling off the floor as she sat perched up on the window sill opposite to her sister's sleeping form. There was a small clicking noise from the distance. Ruby turned her head to her right and saw her partner enter the room, two steaming cups held tightly in both hands. The heiress said no words as she passed one of the mugs to Ruby. The girl took it gratefully. Taking a small sip, she felt the hot fluid flow down her throat, settling nicely inside her stomach. It was just the right amount of sweetness; coffee with cream and five sugars. The heiress didn't take a sip from the other drink, as the brewed beverage hadn't been meant for herself. She set it down next to Ruby who peered inside it to notice that it was some form of tea.

"Well, it's already been eleven hours," observed Weiss with exhaustion, deciding to stay standing as she conversed with her dark-haired companion. "And neither has moved from that spot."

Ruby kept quiet.

Clearing her throat, Weiss made another attempt to chat. This time, she made usage of a much more calm and soothing tone. "She's fine, Ruby. She'll be waking up soon."

"Yeah... I know that." The girl grinned weakly in response. "My sister's too strong to let an injury like that keep her down."

The heiress maintained her unwavering stare on Ruby, silently asking the girl to continue as she knew that there was more to be said.

"It's just that... This was our first real battle outside the school, you know, as a team. And we were all so excited about finding the White Fang, catching Torchwick and stuff... But that breach inside the city..." A hesitant voice confessed her clouded thoughts. "Things are just going to get even tougher from now on, aren't they?"

"We're only students," scoffed Weiss. "Nobody's expecting us to go off to war anytime soon."

"What about that woman who broke into the CCT tower though?" mentioned Ruby tentatively. "There's still so many questions left unanswered."

"Let's be pleased with what we have accomplished so far. I mean, we saved the city from total annihilation. And we caught Torchwick before he could completely initiate his plan," argued the heiress in a highly persuasive manner. "It's quite a feat for first years, I think, even if we weren't rewarded with any extra credit from our teachers."

"Ha! You and your grades." Ruby laughed loudly at her partner's remark. Weiss merely scowled at the evoked snort.

Feeling slightly more cheery, the small girl bobbed her head in agreement. "But no, you're right. And even if something like this happens again...as long as we're together, I think we're pretty unstoppable."

"Definitely."

Following her partner's reply, Ruby turned to look at the fourth resident of the room. Their friend, Blake, had been as stationary as the recovering blonde. For hours after the breach, the feline girl remained glued to her sister's side. Despite Ruby's suggestions of rest, the faunus had outright refused to budge from her seat. However, fatigue of the fight must have caught up to her eventually, noted Ruby, as she saw with relief that the cat girl was finally asleep, pressing her head lightly onto the edge of the mattress.

"They really care a lot for each other, don't they?" The amount of concern Blake showed towards Yang warmed Ruby's heart. When the two had been pitted together as partners, Ruby had been secretly concerned over how the dynamic would work. Needless to say, there was no need to fret as Blake and Yang worked perfectly together, almost to the point where Ruby was envious. It took days of work before she became properly coordinated with Weiss.

The heiress nodded along. "They make an odd pair, but they do seem to balance each other out quite effectively."

"Yeah." She let out a perky smile at the relatable summary. "Kind of like us."

"...I suppose we are pretty formidable as well," acknowledged Weiss with a snuff grunt.

"My BFF!" Ruby pulled her partner forcefully into her arms, shouting the words playfully as she did so. The girl knew just how much physical contact, and the aforementioned title, annoyed Weiss. It was why she enjoyed doing it so much.

At that instant, the cat faunus stirred. The top edges of her black bow twitching as she rose from the blankets in a sharp, abrupt fashion.

"Blake!" Ruby mentally slapped herself for her prior loudness as she apologized. "Sorry! Did we wake you?"

The former girl took no notice of her comment. Instead, she leaned over towards Yang, her eyes appearing very much muddled. Ruby heard her breath hitch slightly; her own lips soon mimicked the action as she heard a familiar groan being emitted into the air.

Leaping off the window sill, Ruby dashed forward to her sibling's side. A startled Weiss dove forward instinctively, catching the half-full mug of coffee with her two hands before it could clatter onto the ground. Blake immediately shuffled away, making unnecessary room for the other girls to stand in.

All persisting tension in Ruby's body was released as bright lilac pools blinked up at her. "You're awake! You're awake... Yang..."

Zwei barked happily from beneath the bed. Back on his tiny legs, he circled around the hospital bed as a narrow-eyed Blake watched him for a moment with caution.

Her sister was mumbling something weakly. They didn't sound much like words. Ruby leaned in closer, trying to decipher the code the girl was sprouting.

"Where...?" The blonde finally managed to ask in a husky voice.

"You're at the school infirmary." Ruby enunciated clearly, "You got knocked out, remember?"

Her sister stared groggily between her and Weiss. There was a glimmer of recollection in her eyes.

"...What...day...is it?" The standing pair frowned in confusion. That seemed to be an odd question to ask at the moment.

"Um... You weren't out for _that_ long." Much longer than her comfort zone allowed for, but Ruby kept that information to herself. "A couple of hours at the most."

"...Real...?" She sounded like she was still highly out of it. "This...real?"

Perhaps the sedatives the school nurse gave her was a bit too strong.

"Yeah, uh, this is real, Yang." The blonde was attempting to lift her head up, but she let out a lengthy moan of pain. Immediately, Ruby drove into sister-mode, gently coaxing her family member to lie back down flat on her pillow. "Okay, okay, take it easy, sis! I think you should get some more rest."

Yang was muttering a few more incoherent lines, most of which seemed to be directed at Blake. Yet, the faunus was taking small but uneasy steps away from the bed. A strange behavior indeed for someone who had spent half the day sitting stiffly by her partner's side.

It didn't take much time for the disoriented blonde to fall back into deep slumber. Soon enough the air was filled with a sequence of soft snores, the sound feeling much more easing than the unbearable silence that had been present in the infirmary.

"She's going to be okay!" Turning around, Ruby squealed with a poor attempt at a hushed voice. Then, for the second time in less than five minutes, embraced the heiress. This time, out of defeat and equal relief, there was less resistance from the receiving end. As Weiss allowed a newly recharged Ruby to cling onto the front of her dress, she peeked at her other friend from the corner of her eye.

"Blake, you really should be getting some sleep," advised the heiress sternly.

"I just did..." The girl replied stiffly.

"Dozing off beside Yang's bed does not count as proper rest," Weiss pointed out in her usual officious style. "Actually, I believe we all need some sleep."

Ruby naturally broke apart from her partner, cautiously eyeing one figure to the next. She expected her faunus friend to flat-out dismiss the heiress's suggestion. In stark contrast to her thoughts, the given reaction was mixed and unexpected.

"Okay" was all that the feline girl said. She trudged on out of the room, her footsteps silent as the shadows she created behind her. When they returned to the dorm room, however, the beds were all empty.

* * *

To say that Yang was acting peculiar would be a major understatement, opinionated Weiss. For one thing, ever since the girl woke up from the hospital bed, she kept asking for the time and date. And when the heiress did disclose the information to her, the blonde would visibly sigh in relief. Three days after the breach, when a restless Yang was allowed by Ruby to leave the infirmary, Weiss had even once caught the girl staring into her scroll, muttering something about "tomorrow."

The Ice Queen was shrewd and attentive. There was something about the blonde that had changed. There was hesitance in her steps. In her normally confident stance, there was a taint of uncertainty in everything she did, as if she doubted what she was doing coincided with reality. Ruby, though extremely elated by her sister's full recovery, was also present enough to notice these subtle differences in manner. The pair decided that the girl must still be groggy from the near-comatose state she had been in.

Weiss continued her observation in silence as she accompanied her teammate back to their dormitory. Yang was grazing her fingers across the wall of the corridor as they walked. However, not even a promise with Ruby could hold back the heiress's concern when the first thing her teammate did once entering the room was uplifting the center rug and checking underneath it.

"What are you doing?" She finally decided to inquire in a perplexed tone.

There was a strained grin forming on the blonde's face as she pointed at a darkened spot on the flipped carpet. "How did we get this stain again?"

"...Ruby." The heiress recollected the memory with relative speed. "She spilled some coffee on it."

"On the Saturday before the school dance..." Yang finished her thoughts out loud. She set the fabric down onto the hardwood floor again with a small sigh. Weiss quirked an eyebrow at the blonde as she chose to sit down on Blake's bed, absentmindedly running her fingers up and down the sheets as she stared out the opened window.

"Hey, Weiss..." It took several minutes before the brawler finally broke the silence uncharacteristic to their room. "Blake went to the dance with Sun, right?"

"...Yes?" The heiress replied after a short ponderous pause. After all, their friend had arrived at the ballroom, arms linked with the monkey faunus. However, it wasn't the matter of answering that was the problem. Weiss sent Yang an uncertain glance as she asked in return, "Do you not remember?"

"No, I remember," said Yang quietly as she maintained her gaze fixed towards the outside. "I was just making sure I was right."

"You're acting really...funny," she huffed, careful not to sound too accusatory at risk of offending the clearly unstable blonde. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Weiss, I feel great." There was a smile that fell a few inches short in length and genuineness. "Where's Blake?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Weiss shrugged. "She did say she was going out to train... She didn't mention anything specific though."

"Oh... Right. Training for the Vytal Festival, I guess." Yang said this in a way that made her sound as if she was remembering about the tournament for the first time in weeks, which was strange as the event had been a large part of their lives a couple of days ago.

A nervous question broke the silence.

"Hey, Weiss. Is it just me or...has Blake been avoiding me lately?"

It was a fair question to ask, Weiss thought. After all, the blonde hadn't been readily awake during the hours spent by the faunus guarding her bedside. When she did awake, Blake was hardly around. The feline girl seemed to find every possible excuse to flee from the brawler. At first, the heiress believed that something had happened on the battlefield to cause an uncomfortable rift between the two. Yet she was proven wrong quite quickly as she realized that it wasn't just the blonde Blake was avoiding, it was the whole team.

"It's not just you." She answered candidly. "She hasn't been around _any_ of us really."

That comment finally got Yang to spin her head around.

The heiress knew that it had been the right choice to tell the truth. After all, if there was a problem with their cat-eared friend, the blonde was the safest bet to take. Blake had opened up to her significantly since their first meeting, both having moved past each other's prejudice regarding their races. Nonetheless, the faunus seemed most comfortable when in company with her boisterous female partner.

"What?" The blonde crunched her eyebrows together, clearly troubled by the news. "How come?"

Weiss gave the brawler a blank expression, one that was meant to indirectly state that she had no answers on the matter.

* * *

Blake brooded silently as she sat on top of a sturdy tree branch. The woodland around her shook quietly in the wind. Branches rustled softly as they brushed against each other. Bright red leaves fell to the ground in an endless illusion instilled by the forest of Forever Fall.

She enjoyed heights. Being at higher elevation filled her with a fleeting illusion. Hovering above everything else soothed her as if all of her problems were settled below and she could leave them behind as she embraced the air. With each step taken, however, she sank a few feet below into the ground. And though her several months at Beacon had been so eerily peaceful, she knew that the serenity could not last, the foundation beneath her feet was already beginning to crumble away into dust.

.

 _"Belladonna."_

 _A deep raggedy voice resonated through the narrow slits. The faunus reluctantly turned to be confronted by the man, one with a butch figure and a murderous chainsaw blade._

 _"Traitor."_

 _He stated this with much aversion._ _Yet, she liked the way the term sounded. It held accuracy in speech._

 _"Why is the White Fang doing this?" For a moment, Blake_ _felt terribly calm._ _"Why are you partnering up with a human?"_

 _"We are marking the start of our revolution. And don't worry, you'll be alive to witness it." Despite most of his face being covered by the hideous mask, she could sense that he was wearing a rather sadistic grin. "The boss has some big plans left for you."_

 _They had arrived at the subject of Adam. It was inevitable for the man to mention him. Her former boss, her mentor, her partner, her everything._

 _"Too bad about your little friend though." He sneered, the chainsaw roaring back into life as he approached dangerously. "I'll be taking her head as my reward."_

 _It was incredibly fortunate that the doors of the compartment opened at that exact moment to reveal a fuming blonde; Blake knew her body wouldn't have responded in time to shield the unconscious heiress in her arms._

 _._

Just one glimpse at the malicious mask and she was propelled back into reality. The moment of relapse had been so close and jarring that for every step she took on Mountain Glenn, she was flinching. Her body, constantly and fearfully anticipating a pair of angry glowing eyes and flaming red hair to be lurking around the subsequent corner.

The cold edges of the large rock situated in the clearing below reminded her of a very unpleasant memory. An old wound that hadn't been fully healed; a thin scab had merely formed around it, hiding away the fear and doubt that were destined to resurface.

She leaned back on the trunk of the tree, breathing quietly until she heard the crunching of leaves from the distance.

For a second, Blake's heart stopped, identifying the footsteps to be distinctly human. It was not until she recognized the subtle differences in sound that she managed to cease the stressful recalls. Undoubtedly, Yang's strides were much louder, as the girl, unlike her ex-partner, did not bother to be stealthy with her movements.

Nevertheless, her two partners had similarities that could easily outweigh the difference in pace. The similarity in fighting style: the accumulation in energy and the redirection of it. The same shade of red, signifying both emotion and strength. The fact that they had been her pillars of support during periods of great need.

But they were different, Blake assured herself. It would be different with Yang.

He had changed and she would not. That is what she hoped, what she begged once the darkness of the night settled onto her in the form of horrific memories.

Or perhaps change was irreversible. Perhaps this time around, she was destined to don the mask of a monster.

"Hey." A cheery tone entered her mind as she was finally found. Mane of long yellow hair shone brightly in the sun as her partner happily waved while jogging forward.

"...How did you find me here?" Blake found herself asking instead of greeting.

The blonde frowned momentarily. Was that disappointment she saw? Blake wondered as she adjusted her gaze to survey the brawler.

"I do have a pretty strong kitty radar built into my system."

This earned a meaningful glare from Blake, one that the girl believed was well-deserved. Sometimes the lack of tact her teammates presented to her regarding her animal heritage was nothing more than demeaning.

"Pyrrha said she saw you head off in this direction..." Yang murmured the real answer. It didn't satisfy the faunus as much as she thought it would. The response didn't provide her with the reason for the blonde's unexpected visit. Sighing, the girl jumped off the steady tree branch and landed softly on the ground. Yang stared at her then presented another toothy grin. "So it's true. Cats always land on their feet."

The brawler seemed to be taking the hint, much faster than usual, as she began to scratch the back of her head while laughing sheepishly. "That was the last one. I promise."

Grunting approvingly, Blake took a seat on the flat piece of rock. Reddish petals continued to fall onto the ground, like drops of blood that haunted her sleep.

"So... Weiss tells me you've been busy training?" Her partner was glancing at her with a faulty smile. The faunus knew that what she was doing now, sitting pointlessly on a rock, could hardly be considered as training. Taking the safe exit as usual, she decided to remain quiet. The sole response she gave out was a tiny nod.

"...And you would tell us if something was wrong, right?"

If there was one thing the girl couldn't stand, it was when her partner stared at her with those eyes, reflecting a sense of deep concern that was so selfless and pure. The raw emotion portrayed by Yang was at times too powerful. Blake didn't trust her mouth to speak. She didn't even move her head this time to add in a small denial at the remark.

There was a deep exhale of frustration. "Well, I'm not feeling so terrific either."

Most likely deciding that she would take every moment of non-response as permission to continue, Yang chattered on. "Ever had one of those days where nothing seems to go right?"

Blake gave the brawler a puzzled yet concurring expression.

The blonde, now fully invested in the conversation, took a seat in the spot of grass beside the heavy rock. Uprooting a few rogue flowers with her restless fingers, Yang went on in a strangely distant voice. "...What about... What would you do if you were sent back in time, to the moment you regret the most? And every single day you were forced to relive how much of an idiot you've been?"

"Yang, what is this about?" Blake sighed, sounding very much like she wanted the blonde to get to the point then leave.

"I had a dream." Fortunately, her partner decided to cut to the chase as well. "I had a crazy messed up dream. And I really need to talk to someone about it."

Blake shifted from her sitting position, not understanding why she would be the person of choice for such an intimate task. "Why me? Why not Ruby?"

"Because... This dream wasn't about Ruby. It was about you."

There was a painful sensation of a small stake being jabbed into her lung. Outwardly, Blake tried her best not to look too apprehended. "...What was it about?"

"...I was back in time, to the day before the school dance."

Finally, Blake looked up properly from the spot, meeting Yang's gaze that had remained fixated on her ever since her arrival at the forest clearing. When her partner mentioned regret, and a bizarre dream associated to it, she didn't expect the subject of it to be something so peculiarly random. The faunus frowned, wondering why such a day would be construed as a fault for the blonde.

"It wasn't just that I was back in time. I was stuck inside it," growled Yang, as if she didn't want her experience to come off as something so trivial. "Everyday I had to repeat the same old routine. Ruby spilled her coffee, Weiss dragged us out to decorate the hall for the dance..."

There was an inconsistent pause. Blake remembered the day as clear as yesterday. She remembered the conversation she had with her partner in the empty lecture room, discussing her obsession with the White Fang and the tragic story regarding Yang's birth mother.

To whose benefit, Blake did not know, but the tense brawler chose to breeze over that point as she continued. "The worst part about it was that nobody realized what was going on. Everyone's memory was reset except mine. Nothing that I said or did...made a difference at all. Because the next day, it was left forgotten."

The faunus had to admit that if she was the victim to such a dream sequence, she would not have taken the play lightly either. It would have been psychological torture, considering the history she carried. If someone as brave and fearless as Yang, someone who the faunus doubted held enough moments of regret to count to ten, described the experience as an ordeal, how awful would it have been?

"I know now that it was just a nightmare...but at the time, it felt so real." A very unfitting forlorn gloom was hovering over her partner's face. "I didn't think I'd ever live to see tomorrow come. And that really, really sucked because...I realized how I feel about someone very close to me. It was something so deep within me, something even a blow to the head couldn't keep out."

And as the blonde was appropriately nicknamed an open book by her partner, after catching one glimpse at the painfully longing expression directed towards her, the cat faunus began to connect the dots together. Her pupils shook slightly, not knowing whether or not her instincts would be proven correct. She didn't feel like she was prepared to deal with such strong emotions so soon.

"I realized my feelings for you a long time ago, Blake," breathed Yang wistfully. "Ever since the school dance, when you went with Sun. And even though it killed me to watch you two together, I didn't say a single damn thing. I just kept making excuses until now because I didn't want to risk anything happening."

Hinges of her jaws ached as the faunus couldn't find the energy to close her hanging mouth.

"I always thought I was the kind of person to seize the day. Make everything happen. But I was wrong. Looking back, there's so many missed opportunities I let slip by, because I wasn't honest with myself. And time doesn't wait for anyone."

An unbearable silence filled the gaps of the trees.

"I- I don't..." Cogent words died pitifully inside her mouth. She hated herself to be the one to make her partner wear such a miserable countenance.

This was the one time when the blonde chose to look away, perhaps taking in the lack of proper feedback as the worst outcome. Blake knew she had to say something, to at least attempt to express the chaos that surrounded her heart.

All of her years training with the White Fang had implanted a barrier between her and her own emotions. It was as if every second, every minute, every hour of her life, the clock had been ticking to arrive at this destined moment, only for her to choke and ruin all that could be done for the future.

"It's okay... I wasn't expecting anything. It was just something I needed to get out."

By the defeated look materializing on the blonde's visage, Blake felt her stomach tighten even further. Before she could physically force her locked lips apart to speak, Yang took the last window of opportunity away. Her partner was making a courageous effort to change the subject. "But there is a...second part to this story... And you don't have to answer me this time if you don't want to."

Yang always attempted her best not to encroach upon her personal bubble. Blake was grateful for that aspect. However, this was the rare occasion in which privacy came at such a dreadful price. It was painful to watch the blonde act so submissive, when from any objective standpoint the faunus had been short of a reply for everything that had been shared so far.

"...The dream sort of changed at the end. It fell apart. And I was pulled into this place I've never been before. It was at some sort of...faunus rally, after a dust mining accident that happened a couple of years ago."

Amber eyes widened on their own accord. As both pupils refused to hide the shock and recognition within them, Blake quickly moved her gaze away from the blonde. She had a sickening hunch, since the short nap she had taken at the infirmary, but she didn't think that she would be correct. She hoped she wouldn't be, but the details of Yang's dream had suddenly turned quite vividly familiar.

"There... I met a young girl... She looked a lot like..." Her partner's sentence trailed off. Yang looked hesitant, on the verge of wanting to share or keeping this part to herself.

"You." Lilac eyes pierced into her soul, caving in to the temptation as they searched for a much desired truth. "I think I saw you."

It was the truth. But it was not one she was ready to divulge.

"...Is there any chance you know what I'm talking about?"

The feline girl knew that she had a bad feeling about today, she simply didn't know how right she was going to be. "Yang... That last part... It wasn't..."

It took an agonizing amount of effort not to run. After all, Yang deserved much more than her cowardice. All those instances during their first two semesters at Beacon, she had been nothing but patient and solid as a rock. It was time for her to return the favor with even the tiniest ounce of honesty.

"...I wasn't in your dream," said Blake faintly as she stood up. "You were in mine."

* * *

So it was all over - the repetitions, the pain, the lies - everything was finished for better or for worse. Yang rationalized it this way.

It had been hard to adjust.

Her journey moving between the past and the present was obscuring to say the least.

Worst of all, the blonde was horrified to find out that all of what she had experienced for the supposed "past eleven days" had been nothing more than a part of the frenetic imagination of her brain. Disappointment filled her sides. Admitting that it had all been fictional meant that none of what she accomplished – the confession, the sudden unexpected kiss at the end – had been real.

She was prepared to keep the unaccounted days as a secret, to let the moments die along with time. But then Yang thought hard about what her dream had really meant, and how exhausting it must have been for her subconscious state of mind to restrain such unwanted emotions. With her wish of tomorrow being granted, it felt like she would be betraying herself to not act upon her sentiments for another week.

Thus, when she shared the important details of her dream with the girl she loved, Yang had done so in utter blindness and with little hope, as little as she could manage. Knowing her partner, the blonde was ready to give the girl time and space to think.

Yet when she had made an innocent inquiry, on a feature of her dream that felt too real and foreign to her to call her own, the answer that she finally attained was groundbreaking.

"Then... Wait, what you're saying is..." The blonde craned her neck upwards as her standing partner towered over her. "Huh?"

"While you were unconscious, I fell asleep by your side. And I...had a dream as well." Blake crossed her arms, tightening the lock. Her body language was practically screaming at the blonde that this was a matter that should not be dealt with lightly. "A dream, a nightmare...a memory... Whatever you want to call it."

"I was revisiting a scene from my past. And I thought I saw you standing there... Believe it or not, I thought it was you. The real you, not just a projection from my dreams."

"So... That was real? It really happened?" Her partner took a brief step backwards. A clear sign of unwanted intrusion.

"I'm so sorry," added Yang hurriedly as she jumped up to her feet. "I never meant to see it! It just...happened."

"It wasn't your fault. It's never your fault." The second phrase was quietly whispered. "When I shared my aura with you at the battlefield, it must have left a lingering connection."

Yes, she remembered the warm emanation of purple for sure; the intangible form of her partner that had managed to snap her out, at least partly, from her dreams.

But if that had been true, then the anger she had felt had been real as well. The rage and act of terror... Yang was beginning to understand why Blake wanted to keep this part of the past to herself. The issue of the White Fang had never been deeply discussed among the group. After her friend had accidentally let the truth slip, the team had accepted not only her faunus heritage but also her shady past. Perhaps the acceptance had been so easy at the time since Blake, intentionally or unintentionally, never spoke of what she did while being part of the terrorist organization. Now, Yang wasn't so sure if she was ready to find out. Thankfully, the pool of veracity seemed to be quickly running dry for the afternoon. Blake's form had turned so rigid and cold, the blonde knew that this exchange would have to wait for another time, a time in the future when both would be ready to speak and listen.

"Are you mad at me?" Yang asked hoarsely after a terribly prolonged pause.

Her feline companion looked saddened at the fact that the blonde would be thinking such a thing. "I'm not mad."

"Well, you're upset about something." It was meaningless for Blake to argue with her about this. Yang realized another previously unnoticed benefit from the time loop she experienced. She had undergone enough practice at a intimate conversation with Blake to read the subtle signs of trouble. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"...At the train, before it crashed, I fought with Torchwick."

"Yeah, I saw him knocked out in one of the compartments." Yang tried to grin encouragingly at the girl. "Thanks to you, we got him. He's behind bars now."

Nevertheless, this gesture had the complete opposite effect that the blonde had intended to have.

"He is," replied Blake succinctly. It was remarkable how from merely two words the blonde could detect doubt.

"Is that not what you wanted?"

"...I don't know." Thunderous silence followed.

The blonde tried to grasp what she was hearing. Had her partner's obsession not been capturing Torchwick and putting a stop to the White Fang's sinister plan? What else had the girl desired to accomplish, if the action of doing all of the aforementioned should be mired into a swamp of uncertainty?

"...I had him disarmed. He was at the receiving end of my blade. And I almost..." Her partner's words were drowned into silence. After a sharp intake of breath, Blake managed to steady herself again. "If Weiss didn't show up, I don't know what I might have done."

Yang was starting to understand the implication. She tried her very best not to remember the time she involuntarily imagined Blake wearing the uniform of the White Fang. Without squirming, the blonde tried to speak. "I know you, Blake. You're not the kind of person who would deliberately hurt someone."

"You saw what happened in my past. I could have easily taken away a life that day."

"But you didn't." The lack of an immediate response frightened her deeply. "...Did you?"

Yang hoped that she bad been better at concealing the tint of horror lying dormant in her voice. It had ripped open such a vivid emotion of guilt upon the other's physical features.

"...No." Blake's bangs moved slightly, casting a dark gloom over the girl's face. "But I have come close many times."

"I'm not like you or Ruby or Weiss. I know you said you have your own reasons, but deep down all of you care about the lives of others. But I'm not trying to become a huntress for the good of mankind. I always speak of wanting to establish peace and equality..." A rather traumatically despairing pair of amber orbs trailed upon her. "In reality, what if I'm just trying to make up for what I did wrong? I've been working most of my life for a cause so bloodthirsty... Will my hands ever be cleaned of that?"

Redemption. Her partner was stating that she was lonesomely taking the path to cleanse herself of sin. Yang didn't think that this was a bad reason at all. Comparatively, she had no direction with her own life; she had admitted to her friends long ago that she simply sought out the thrills and excitement of the battlefield.

"...But no matter what I do, my past always catches up to me." Blake's next words cut her train of thought. It was as if Yang had turned on a faucet of emotions for the faunus, then accidentally vacated the spot only to return and find it still running, nearly flooding the shallow basin of the sink.

"My association with the White Fang will never be forgotten. My partner, he...was changing me in ways I didn't think I could be changed." Her friend's words vibrated moderately in the wind. It was Yang's turn to stand by helplessly and listen to the rare amount of expression coming from her normally introverted partner. "I left him, not because he was turning into a monster... I was afraid of what I might become when I'm with him. And now, I'm beginning to see just how much of it I wasn't able to leave behind."

"Stop it." The blonde felt a strange knot form inside her gut. "You're not part of the White Fang anymore, so quit talking like you are."

"I may not be a part of the White Fang, but it's still a part of me."

"Well, that doesn't matter," snapped Yang stubbornly. "You're not like them. You're not going to end up like _him_."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do."

" _How?_ " Blake hissed.

"Because I'll make sure that never happens." She meant every word, making a point to emphasize each syllable with the appropriate amount of intentness and assurance. During their initial meeting, Yang remembered how thrown off she had been by the girl's closed-off personality and less-than-sociable aura. She had called the girl a cause not worth venturing through. Ironically now, no matter how hard she tried to resist, her heart swelled a few inches each time she saw her partner. And this affection refused to stop growing, against all odds, even if time allowed nothing else to pass.

"You've got your whole life ahead of you. The mistakes you make... You can't change the past. But you can at least try to change the future."

There was a defeated sort of sigh. A weary gaze met the brawler. "It's easier said than done."

"It is easy." Yang pried her eyes off from the ground and plugged them back onto her partner. "Watch."

For a period of twenty seconds, her brain completely ceased to function. During the short recess of oxygen, her body was already set into motion. The blonde knew what she was going to do, and this time she could not decide whether or not it was wrong or right. A kiss so delicious, argued Yang, should not be considered a mistake.

Her right hand was placed behind her partner's neck, drawing her nearer. Their bodies drew in a few centimeters close, the clutch tightened with unforeseen ecstasy and bliss. Her partner was trembling slightly, pushing slowly and faintly, staying true to the adorable amount of diffidence Yang cherished so much.

Hypnotized and drunk by the spur of the moment, the kiss sank deeper and deeper into an earthly paradise. There was a brush of moist lips. A slight bit of tongue. Weeks of restraint and moderation finally melted and dissolved into passion.

When they finally broke apart for air, her companion's pale cheeks had been suffused with the color of roses. Having learnt from a hypothetical past experience, Yang made sure her grip on Blake's wrist was firm enough for the girl to not break through.

"You kissed me at the end of that dream." She hadn't meant it to sound desperate, yet Yang found herself hanging upon the shred of hope she had salvaged from her unconsciousness. "I know you did."

"I wanted to wake you up," reasoned Blake quietly.

The blonde's eyebrows rose slightly in amusement despite herself. "And you thought kissing me would do that?"

"It seemed...right at the time." The faunus finished lamely as logic failed to save her.

"Well, what about now?" Everything was muted, each movement stifled, as Yang waited as patiently as she could.

"Blake, I love you." The sentiment progressively grew more comfortable to express after the first barrier. "And even though I said it didn't matter before... It does. It really, really does. So please, be honest when I ask you this... Do you feel the same way about me?"

"...I don't know."

To Yang, the answer was a resounding word of disapprobation. Her suddenly languid arms dropped to her sides. "...Then that's a no."

"It's not a no." The faunus shook her head delicately. "It means... I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?" Something ugly sized up and rose inside her like vomit. "Love is something that comes like instinct! When you see the person you love, you know you don't want them out of your sight! When you're with the person you love, you know that you want to spend every second of your life with them! When something bad happens to them, it feels like someone's plunging their hand down your throat and ripping out your goddamn heart! That's what love is supposed to be like! It's primal. It's unconditional. It's...black and white."

Yang forced herself to cool down a few degrees as she dragged her fiery red eyes back into their sockets. Accumulated frustration, the hurt of rejection, denial in the form of anger: all of which now subsided slowly into a wave of remorse and grief.

"When I see you, I picture the sun."

Her partner's voice had comparatively dropped an octave in pitch and few decibels in volume. The calming blonde forced herself to look up as the cat faunus resumed with her queer choice of words.

"That's what it feels like to be with you..." Blake expanded in a hushed manner. "It's like having left my hand outside on a warm summer day. When I'm with you, I feel safe. I feel secure. And sometimes I hate how comfortable you make me feel because I'm afraid of what will happen once you disappear."

"I'm not going to just disappear!" Yang shouted in defense at the implied accusation.

"I'm not saying that you will!" The faunus shouted back in dangerous attempt to extinguish the leftover flame. "But that's who I am! That's what I've lived with. A part of me refuses to understand or accept the fact that you will be there for me because I was trained to always expect the worst in people."

"When I saw you get hurt, I felt crushed. When I saw you wake up, I was beyond relief. Is that enough to define as love?" The feline girl gave no chance for the blonde to contribute as she answered her own question. "If so, then, yes! Of course! You're reckless, rash, and unnecessarily brave. You always put yourself out on the limb, even when you don't have to! How could I not love you, Yang. You're everything that I could ever want!"

"...But it's complicated." The emotions began to peter once again. "It's something that can't be labelled... It involves so much...sacrifice. So much _trust._ "

Much to Yang's chagrin, the girl in front of her had rendered her silent once again. She never gave the blonde a way to become truly angry. Because compassion and empathy took hold of her before such scenarios could occur. The two, no matter how perfectly they worked as training huntresses, were at the polar ends of thought and attitude. It was difficult, but the blonde forced herself to understand that for someone like Blake, a dim gray was all that could be elicited for the time being.

"We met at the Emerald Forest for a reason," reopened the blonde, more evenly with the third turn. "Maybe it was fate, maybe it wasn't, but it always meant something to me that we were paired up as partners."

"I'm the girl who can't make anyone stay. My mother, my birth mother..." It took a minute for the blonde to swallow back the disdainful taste of such a crushing fact. "Ruby's growing up. She's not a kid anymore... She doesn't need her older sister to look after her. And you're..."

"...I'm the one who always runs." Her partner finished the sentence, knowing fully well that the brawler wouldn't run the risk of saying it herself.

"...So are you going to run from this...or will you give it a chance? ...Will you trust me?"

"...I do." There wasn't a single inkling of a lie in the response. "I do trust you."

Yang balled her hands into a tight fist then relaxed her fingers almost instantly in consent. The look in her friend's eyes, the glimmer of hope for the future; it was plenty for the present.

"Then that's all that needs to be said."

A noiseless Blake reached out her hand, unexpectedly moving forward, and locked it on top of her own sweaty palm. The touch shook the blonde like a blow. "...Thank you."

Then an unpleasant growl.

The precious moment, like each one in a disruptive world like Remnant, was interrupted by baleful primitive snarls. Red glares surrounded them in a closing circle. Yang didn't swear, though she would have much liked to, being reminded too late that screaming and shouting in the middle of the woods was a poor judgement call. "Well... I think that was enough negativity for today."

Intuitively, Blake's right hand flew to the handle of her blade. The other one rested in the blonde's firm grip. There was a short pause as the faunus looked down at the continued arrest of her five fingers. With a small cough and a blush, Blake muttered, "Um... Yang?"

"Oh, right." Quickly, the blonde released her hold. Neither were too happy about the break. Though it was temporary, believed Yang as she raised her arms and activated Ember Cecilia.

The wielder of Gambol Shroud frowned in mild disapproval. "You're not supposed to be fighting yet. You could hurt yourself."

"Lucky I've got you then?" Yang retaliated cheekily, the glowing energy in her gauntlets suggesting that no such supernatural element would be powerful enough to keep her out of this fight.

Blake let out a faint chuckle before separating her linked weapon into two. "As long as you'll have me."

To the ends of time, answered Yang with her whole heart.


	23. She's Giving Me Excitations

A prompt-based story dedicated to Reeves3

* * *

 **Title:** She's Giving Me Excitations

 **Song Prompt:** Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys

 **Genre:** Romance/Comedy/Modern AU/One-shot

 **Major Characters:** Blake, Yang, Ruby, Weiss

 **Minor Characters:** Coco, Velvet

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee, White Rose

 **Synopsis:** There is a saying that a little nudity can go a long way. The veracity of this provocative statement would only be proven by serendipitous moments of love and a teaspoon of friendly mischief.

* * *

 _"I love the colorful clothes she wears_  
 _And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair._  
 _I hear the sound of a gentle word_  
 _On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air._

 _I'm picking up good vibrations.  
_ _She's giving me excitations."_

* * *

Blake's head rocked slightly in the air, waning back and forth in fatigue; raven black hair streamed down like curtains against her cheeks. There was a small clunking sound as her forehead thumped onto an easel placed just a feet in front of her. Instinctively, Blake surged forward and grabbed onto the sides of the wooden stand before it fell over. There was a light scoff coming from her side. Recognizing the amused sneer, the tired art student narrowed her eyes and glared up at her friend standing to her right.

"Nice save," a sarcastic comment was shot her way. Her roommate, the ever-so-patient Weiss Schnee, was staring down at her, her sleek white hair pulled up into a loose ponytail and her trademark expression of annoyance plastered on as usual. "Thanks for remembering to wake me up this morning. I hope you know that I was nearly late to Professor Oobleck's class."

"You're welcome," Blake yawned, sounding rather unapologetic as she attempted to wash any impending sleep off of her face. Through slightly pink eyes, the girl spotted two steaming paper cups being held by her roommate. She stared hard at them with increasing desire. "Coffee..."

"Here." Rolling her eyes as she generally did so, Weiss reluctantly passed the girl one of the warm store-bought beverages. "I got you your own this time so that you won't steal any of mine."

"Thanks," she replied gratefully while sitting up slightly to sip on the black sludge of caffeine. The substance scalded her throat a bit, but the gesture expanded Blake's attention span by a few seconds.

Pulling up a seat from behind them, Weiss sat down onto a cold stool, setting her bag and coffee down onto the ground as she set up her own station. Blake watched patiently as her friend took several customary minutes to perfect her work environment for the subsequent hour. After an appropriate number of pencils had been set down upon the stand, her roommate turned towards her once again. "You look even worse than usual. Did you sleep at all last night?"

Having seen her own worn-out reflection in a mirror along the way, Blake merely shrugged in response. Tending carelessly to her disheveled hair, she answered simply, "Not much."

"Well, I did warn you that you were taking way too many courses this semester," said Weiss in half-concern and half-exasperation. Arguably, it was more of the latter.

"And I didn't listen to you because...?" The art student groaned as she found herself sincerely asking.

"Because you never listen to me?" Weiss retorted as she tilted her head in mild accusation.

"Sounds about right..." Blake smirked slightly, finding phrases much easier to say once she'd gone through about half of her energizing drink.

"Did you manage to finish the still-life sketches by today?"

"I did, but I rushed through some of them." There was a severely disapproving expression brewing on her friend's face. "At least I won't be getting an incomplete... I don't even need to ask if you got yours done on time?"

"Actually, I got back home around midnight yesterday," declared her roommate truthfully. "I didn't finish my work until three in the morning."

The act of procrastination being too bizarre in the world of Weiss, Blake was forced to wonder, "What were you doing up so late?"

"Ruby invited me out to a party held by her department." There was an echoing sigh that escaped her friend's lips. "I would have left early if some of the intoxicated, testosterone-filled students in her year stopped flirting with her."

Blake smirked as she nodded accordingly. "What did you do to them?"

"I did nothing, of course," huffed Weiss, as if she was insulted by the brutish insinuation. "I mean, I didn't have to...seeing as Yang was there."

"Oh. Right."

"What was that?" Her roommate shrewdly noticed the sudden irregular squeak that occurred at the end of her response.

"Hmm?" Blake tried to act as natural as possible after the slip up. "What was what?"

"That," pinpointed Weiss, catching yet another uncharacteristically higher pitch being transferred in the air. "Your voice did something funny."

"I don't know what you're talking about," replied the girl coolly, flattening her untidy black bangs over a pair of fibbing amber eyes.

Normally, Weiss would have demurred, respecting her friend's privacy enough to back down. But the shenanigan between her and the blonde had gone on for too long in the girl's opinion. Steering the conversation to her desire, her roommate inquired sharply, "Did you know that Yang was going to be there?"

"Uh... Yeah. She texted me about it last night." Blake finally cracked under the pressurizing hue of icy blue. "She invited me out actually."

"Huh." Weiss need not say much as she raised her eyebrows in a knowing stance. "And you didn't come because...?"

"Oh... I had to catch up on all my schoolwork," she mumbled. "Our mini portfolio's due by the end of this month..."

"So, you chickened out as usual?" The tone of voice used was a vocal eye roll.

"...Yes," she admitted candidly.

"Let me get this straight." Weiss made her own abridged notes of the situation. "You have a crush on Yang. Don't try to deny it because you do. But you are attempting to deal with this fact...by refusing to ever be alone in the same room with her?"

"I act like a fool when I'm with her!" Blake had meant to shout, but was forced to quickly lower her volume as she heard a familiar set of bullet heels clunking loudly against the marble floor. A clipboard in hand, and her blonde hair tied into a tight bun, Professor Goodwitch walked into the room. A few tardy students rushed inside the studio after her, trying but miserably failing to be surreptitious. Their teacher pushed the edge of her oval glasses, silently glowering at the late undergraduates in dissatisfaction.

"No, no, you're absolutely right," muttered Weiss, as the two nudged their seats closer to one another in order to continue the heated debate in hushed voices. "Because avoiding your crush isn't foolish at all."

"Don't mock me," Blake grunted.

Weiss gave out a withering stare. "Then stop acting like a complete dunce and just tell her how you feel."

"It's...not that easy."

The hesitancy in her voice caused Weiss to pause for a moment. They both took the opportunity to catch a few words being spoken by their teacher's austere voice. Professor Goodwitch had begun taking attendance. Blake vaguely remembered that the class would now be practicing the art of the human anatomy today. An empty stage stood in front of them at the center of the room.

"You know, you shouldn't base your decisions on any past relationships," said Weiss almost inaudibly.

"I'm not," stated Blake, sounding a bit hurt and offended at the remark. She knew that her record of dating was relatively clean and tame. Most of what she had experienced in the past petered away pitifully, in a mushroom cloud of shyness and a serious lack of sociability.

"Well then, you clearly need to sort out your-"

But then she stopped. The interruption was odd and sudden.

At the drop in conversation, Blake turned her head curiously towards her friend's direction. Until now, she didn't think it was possible for her already pale roommate to become even whiter. Yet the girl was now evidently proving her wrong since with each added second more color was being drained from her cheeks. Her mouth hanging open slightly, eyebrows raised in horror: she appeared absolutely scandalized. And for good reason, noted Blake, as she found a terribly familiar figure stepping into the spacious room.

"Yang?" With her blue eyes as wide as saucers, Weiss called out loudly and clearly regardless of her enduring shock. Several students glanced up from their sketchbooks, puzzled by the sudden raising of voices in the normally dead silent classroom.

"Weiss?" An equally appalled tone answered them. The blonde, who had just crossed the threshold of the studio, _wearing nothing but a small blanket wrapped around her body_ , adjusted her eyes slightly to focus on something even worse in her opinion. A near cry of panic lurched out of Yang's throat as she literally jumped a few steps backwards in alarm. _"Blake?"_

Instead of looking the blonde in the eye, Blake quickly turned her gaze back to her roommate.

"Weiss," growled Blake through bared teeth, her voice full of blame.

"Students!" Their teacher interposed, cutting off whatever her affronted friend had meant to say. "Settle down, please."

It wasn't a request but a demand.

Professor Goodwitch grabbed the flabbergasted blonde by the arm and led her to the center of the room, the place where the designated podium for models stood. "As I have mentioned at the end of our last session, we will be practicing our life sketches with a live model. This is our volunteer for today's class. Everyone, please give Miss Long a warm welcome."

None of her words, or the coerced clapping, reached the ears of three individuals. Yang was still blatantly staring at Blake, her face not being able to conceal any emotions of horror and embarrassment for the time being. Blake continued to glare at her roommate, who was trying her utmost best to look attentive when the teacher was speaking. However, as soon as the professor stopped talking and was giving the dazed blonde a few private instructions, Weiss quickly faced her stressed companion.

"I had nothing to do with this," whispered Weiss furiously in her own defense. After a short exchange of pleading looks and penetrating glares, Blake sighed in defeat, possibly having known from the beginning that her roommate would never, in a million years, be responsible for a risky stunt like this. She simply had wanted an escape hole.

The culprit would soon be caught, immediately after class, swore Blake. But for the moment, she knew that her chances of survival through the next sixty minutes ranged from very slim to none. She could already feel the blood pumping into her brain as the thin sheet of fabric wrapped around the blonde finally was let loose. Weiss let out an inevitable groan as she plunked her face into her opened palm.

Blake swore that she wouldn't look. But it was impossible.

Her cheeks had turned so dangerously warm that she worried she may pass out from the spiked fever.

Yang appeared mightily uncomfortable as well. It took a few moments for the blonde to settle on a posture. After fidgeting around, throwing nervous glances towards Blake and the professor who was glaring at her with a no-nonsense sort of look, eventually the young woman resolved with a sitting-down pose. Rear on the carpeted podium, both arms hugging her legs, she only allowed a backside view for Blake to see. The stance was awfully modest considering the blonde's track record. After all, this was the one girl she knew that truly embraced the life motto, "You Only Live Once."

Shaking herself out of her own thoughts, Blake picked up a chipped piece of a condensed charcoal stick. Taking a deep breath before beginning, she allowed the drawing material to hover over the white paper, then settled it down gently, creating a small dot in the left corner of the paper.

A dot. She managed to draw a single dot during the first five minutes of the session.

Dear lord, cried Blake as she desperately tried to concentrate on anything else but her crush's naked body sitting in front of her. This was just another drawing session. The girl before her wasn't Yang at the moment, it was a random model she would never see or speak to again after class. After several more attempts at brainwashing herself, Blake managed to raise her head properly and scan the blonde quickly. In a total span of four seconds, Blake concluded that she saw all that needed to be seen. Raising the charcoal, she drew careful lines across the sheet, defeating the purpose of the class by drawing entirely from her memory. She had only managed to go so far, merely achieving the rough contours of the blonde's figure.

Frustrated, Blake glanced to her side to witness Weiss, furiously sketching down the blonde's back image. Scrunching her eyebrows together in concentration, her roommate seemed to be going for the finish-as-quickly-as-possible-then-avoid-eye-contact method. Blake imagined that this was a strongly awkward situation for Weiss as well; although the two girls were the same age, and they had become close friends after introductions initiated by Ruby, the blonde was still undoubtedly the older sister of her roommate's girlfriend. Drawing the nude body of your date's family member seemed to be a predicament on similar levels to her own problem.

Admiring Weiss's unwavering ability to focus entirely on the task at hand, Blake gripped harder onto her charcoal, nearly snapping it in half as she turned her gaze back towards Yang. The blonde's beautiful hair flowed behind her, reaching at least halfway across her back. Though obscured by the wavy strands, a very toned and solid set of shoulders was still visible. There were several lines of noticeable muscles, not bulgy and overly accented, but soft and nicely settled onto the girl's moderately tanned skin.

When their professor told them to stop and asked the blonde to pivot before posing again, Blake took the moment to survey the progress on her heartbreaking sketchbook. The drawing was incomplete, ending abruptly towards Yang's waist. When she looked up, the blonde was turning to her side, settling on a semi-standing position as she crouched. A lot more was accessible to her view, whether Blake liked it or not. The art student could sense that she was also being watched from the subtle flickering movement at the corner of Yang's left eye.

Thankfully, the blonde's crossed arms were in the way of a direct view, effectively covering the protruding sections of her chest. Trying hard to only see the girl's mass of thick hair, Blake ignored the temptations of her peripheral vision and focused in on the messy golden locks. Drawing them was more than difficult as Blake realized for the first time how untamed her crush's hairstyle was. Strands flicking in and out messily along the sides, Yang's hair seemed to perfectly match her personality: wild and unpredictable.

The minutes passed by excruciatingly slowly. She had hardly finished when the time was up and Yang was asked to choose another position. Upon the professor's request, the blonde diversified the range of her poses for the last one. As usual, the young woman became bold and daring in the most inconvenient of situations. Having decided that forty minutes was enough of a period to spend in uncomfortable tension, Yang's shoulders slouched a bit and her body became less rigid. Revolving around slowly, as if teasing Blake with unbearable suspense, the blonde rotated on the spot until her full frontal nudity was offered in her direction.

There was a deafening pause as Blake's ears temporarily lost their hearing, blood pumping so furiously that all she could sense at the moment were the erratic pulses of her own ticking heart. Direct eye contact was the worst mistake she could have possibly committed, but Blake could never help herself whenever those enlivening lilac orbs bore into her with such great intent and energy.

Yang raised both her arms and stuck each of her hand on the corresponding sides of her hips. She breathed in and exhaled loudly. At the end of it, she enabled herself to sport a nervous but healthy smile. With resounding resolution, the blonde decided on a bold, daredevil pose. Her larger than average bosom thrust into the air and shoulders stretched out in mock confidence, Yang slipped into unnecessary character, acting out the audacity and spirit of a superhero: the world's most inappropriate, dauntless superhero, wearing no elaborate costume but her birthday suit. Blake didn't dare look away. She didn't dare look down. She kept her eyes glued onto Yang's face, terrified of what would happen when she broke contact. Then her crush managed to do the unthinkable.

Yang winked.

Blake made gallant efforts to pull herself together. Praying hard that her face wasn't red as a ripe tomato, the student teared her vision away and zoomed it in on her sketchbook, the only object that could be used as a comforting barrier between her and the fully exposed blonde.

Nineteen excruciatingly long minutes went by. Time to time, Blake glimpsed up at the model, worried that consistent refusal to meet her gaze would somehow insult the blonde's pride. It seemed like this was another part of her unneeded frets as whenever she did look up, Yang was shining her perfect set of white teeth at her, grinning so broadly to the point that she looked stupid. It never ceased to amaze Blake how radiant a person could look when performing something so horrifyingly embarrassing.

* * *

"And that's all we have time for today."

Never had a dismissal bell sounded so sweet to her ears. The set alarm buzzed loudly from the front desk of the studio. Silencing it with the flick of a finger, Professor Goodwitch quietly gestured towards Yang to relax.

There was a small sigh of relief from her friend's station, but an even bigger one escaped out of her own lips. Blake felt her body grow limp, almost to the point that she had to hold onto the easel to make sure she wouldn't fall out of her seat.

"Next class, we will continue to practice drawing the human body, and the sketches you work on then will be for marks by the end of class. Please remember to check your syllabus in advance for the upcoming project and make sure to hand in the assignments due for today before you leave." The teacher gave the entire class a warning look. "I won't be accepting any late submissions. You are dismissed."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yang lunged forward at the cold blanket lingering on the floor. Carelessly wrapping it around her body, the blonde moved in a hurry, all form of her former confidence fleeting momentarily as she scurried out of the room.

Weiss was the next to jump to her feet, clearing up her work environment in swift, agile motions. Being a helpful friend as she was, Weiss rooted through Blake's backpack and pulled out her assignment notebook. Carrying it with her own, her roommate raced across the classroom and placed them gently on the teacher's desk, adding onto a very small pile.

"I'm going to...go." Weiss announced tentatively once she was done, waking Blake up from the daze she was held captive in. "Talk to Yang before you go, okay?"

The girl wasn't sure if she nodded properly or not. She reckoned she did so, otherwise her roommate wouldn't have been so willing on leaving.

Blake only began to pack her belongings when most of the class had already filed out of the room. Muttering a respectful goodbye to her discerning professor along the way, she walked through the classroom door, hoping to avoid any confrontations. But as soon as she left, at a dark corner of the art studio, she found a pair of exposed ankles behind a large crimson curtain.

It was a sign she could not ignore.

Approaching the spot on her tip toes, Blake made sure she was still a few safe footsteps away before clearing her throat, making her pretense known to the girl behind the drapery.

Immediately, the coverings flung open and a slightly pink Yang was revealed to be standing behind them.

"Oh my god, Blake." The blonde flashed her another quick grin as she tossed her sneakers onto the floor and thrust her two feet into them roughly. "Hi! How's it going?"

There was a short pause as both were aware of each other's battles; Blake was undoubtedly growing red again from unnecessary flashbacks of an event so mindbogglingly recent and Yang was realizing the idiotic extent of her lame greeting.

"Listen," the blonde re-started while effortlessly wearing a slightly sheepish grin. "I am so, so sorry that this happened. I swear, I didn't know you and Weiss were taking the class! Coco, my friend, she didn't mention it at all when she convinced me to do this."

The art student felt the room grow warmer as something of a reddish yellow color caught her eye. "Um... Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Your shirt..." Blake pointed helplessly at the upper section of the girl's unbuttoned top, its openness making sure that the blonde's bright orange bra was still very much accessible to the public's eye.

"Huh?" Yang looked down and swore loudly. "Oh shit!"

After rapidly closing the front of her flannel shirt, the blonde lifted her head once more. She raised her right hand and pushed her hair behind her ear, a habit the blonde frequently did when she was nervous. Wearing a suggestive visage, Yang decided to break the ice as she asked playfully, "So... Did you see anything you liked?"

It was as if this girl was missing the genetic code for shyness. Feeling incredulous, Blake gawked at the blonde's teasing expression before finally regaining the ability to speak.

"I... Uh... Yes? I mean-" Blake wondered if saying otherwise would insult the yellow beauty. "You were very...firm and...nicely shaped."

Whenever she initiated or accepted a conversation with the blonde, she was cornered into a land absent of logic and reason. Blake hoped that since Yang was at least fully dressed, the experience would become easier than before. This seemed to be impossible as she found herself gurgling the rest of her reply. Disturbed by the jumble of her own words, the art student simply chose to stop talking mid-sentence. Tilting her head slightly, Yang seemed to be patiently staring at her in mild amusement. A sparkle of light twinkled even brighter in the blonde's eyes as she spotted something of interest in the opponent's hands.

"Can I?" Yang pointed to the sketchbook being held tightly in Blake's arms. The girl considered saying no, but such a response would rarely stop the blonde from trying. And in a strange sense, Blake felt that Yang was entitled to see the portraits she had drawn for the past hour, since she had been the sole source of them all. Reluctantly, she passed the thin pad to the blonde, who accepted it gleefully. Turning the front cover, Yang flipped through from the very beginning, outwardly marveling over the previous drawings as a self-conscious Blake stood by noiselessly.

It took a minute, but Yang finally reached the mid-section of the book, onto the messy page where three sketches of the same model had been drawn in a haze. The owner of the drawings inwardly cringed, wishing that the mess she had created wasn't too awful for the model to find displeasure in.

However, Yang appeared disappointed, her mouth drooping a minuscule amount as she surveyed the page. Feeling immensely crushed, Blake was about to snatch the book away from her when the blonde made the most peculiar downtrodden comment.

"You didn't draw any of my body."

Blake couldn't help but let out a small uncontrolled scoff.

"I couldn't," she argued shortly. Her reasoning only made sense inside her own brain, as peeking at the blonde's curvaceous body was harder than staring directly at the burning afternoon sun.

"But my boobs are my best feature." Yang was frowning now. Blake bit her lips anxiously, unsure whether or not the blonde was joking anymore.

"You... You're kidding, right?"

The evocative grin gradually forming on the blonde's lips confirmed her thoughts. Leaning in closer, close enough that her citrus scented breath tickled the tip of her nose, Yang spoke softly and suggestively, "Maybe you can finish your drawings now? I'd do it again for you, free of charge."

"...Maybe some other time..." That was all Blake managed to wheeze out before opening up the glass doors and running out of the building for much needed fresh air. Yang, grabbing the handle of her own bag, followed quickly, jogging to maintain the same pace as the other.

"You're an amazing drawer! Did I mention that before?"

"...No."

"Well, you are. You're a really great artist."

"Thank you."

"Any chance you're going to slow down a bit?" Yang laughed tentatively, sounding a bit out of breath as she was almost sprinting to catch up. "Man, you sure walk fast for-"

But the girl abruptly ended her sentence. Her pupils, focusing on an object in the distance. Blake looked back and forth, between the blonde and the general direction she was gaping at.

A large bush, only a few meters away from them, was rustling. In her perspective, it had been the result of a stray wind. But Yang thought differently.

"Hold on." Violet eyes brightened slightly, lit by an invisible flame. For the first time this morning, the blonde seemed truly irritated as she grumbled, "Excuse me for a moment."

She stormed forward, leaving a puzzled Blake behind as she walked up to the mass of nature.

"I know you're there." Yang growled, tapping her foot impatiently at the still hedge. "Come on out."

For a second, Blake pondered if the blonde had gone insane. Then after a few seconds, a fit of giggles was heard through the bristling leaves. Eventually, two human figures squirmed out of the thick coat of green: One was laughing loudly as she adjusted a dark beret on top of her head. The other looked to be conflicted between a state of amusement and worry.

"Coco!" Yang yelled, loudly enough for people standing several miles away to hear. "How could you not tell me that Blake was taking that class?!"

Before this, Blake had meant to stay out of the talk, minding her own business. The volume in which the blonde was speaking at though made it utterly impossible to not eavesdrop.

"Well, if I did, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise now, would it?" challenged the girl named Coco cheekily. Unperturbed by the outwardly fuming blonde, she continued with the same stand of self-righteousness. "Hey! It wasn't just me! Ruby let me know what the deal was. You should be thanking me right now! I ripped off the bandage for you!"

"You made me _drop my pants_ in front of my crush!"

"What? Like that wasn't going to be a part of...your...bucket list...?" Her words slowly drifted as the girl evidently sighted something through her opaque sunglasses. Even from the distance, Blake could tell that the stranger's gaze was navigating towards her direction.

"Oh! Is this the girl you've been talking about?" Blake did not want to join in on the conversation, especially not with the perky young woman standing to Yang's right. It became quite clear to the art major that she had no other choice as the girl, branded in designer clothes and black shades, approached her within a few eager strides.

"Hi, nice to meet you. The name's Coco Adel and I'm a fashion major at this school." Using her left forefinger, the young woman pulled down her shades to the brim of her nose, revealing a rather harmless pair of round dark brown eyes. Nonetheless, the impish countenance she wore ensured that no other facial feature would account to a higher level of innocence than that of a wicked fox. "Did you get a good look at everything, or should I arrange another private meeting for the two of you?"

"...I'm sorry, what?" was her witty reply.

"Velvet, please take her away," begged the blonde.

"So sorry about that." The other girl with a lighter shade of chocolate brown hair and a warm smile stepped forward, dragging the shorter girl by the arm as she stated a sincere apology through a tender Australian accent. "See you around, Yang. It was nice meeting you, Blake."

It took a few harsh pulls and muffled persuasions before the fashion major allowed herself to be dragged away from such an interesting piece of gossip. Nonetheless, Velvet succeeded in her efforts and the remaining two stood silently as they watched the two struggling figures become smaller and smaller with greater distance.

"...Yeah, so, that was Coco," coughed Yang once she concluded that her friend was truly gone. "She's the one who made a bet with me to try nude modeling. We usually pull a lot of crazy stunts together. I honestly thought this one wasn't going to be too bad, until I saw you and...Weiss in the classroom."

Yang noticeably shuddered at the recent memory. "Honestly, I would have preferred it if it had been just you."

Blake was certain that wherever her roommate was at the current moment, the girl would be thinking along the same lines.

But surely, to the blonde, exposing her uncovered body to anyone would have been a dreadful experience. If she didn't mind doing so to Blake, what did that entail? And if her ears hadn't been deceiving her, Yang had just referred to her as her own definitive "crush."

Now, surely after such lengthy sessions of blushing and accumulated flirting, something was meant to happen. Something was entitled to happen.

Yang had accomplished a magnificent feat, an action that would have rendered herself into a catatonic hermit for several weeks on end. Yet, the blonde had done it with such assurance, such style...with such enjoyment. Perhaps it was time she stopped worrying about making a fool of herself, in front of the girl who was the master of making a fool of herself, only to laugh it off as a memorable way of passing a dull Monday morning. Perhaps it was time she stopped concerning over the murky waters of the future when she had not even taken the first baby steps forward.

"Um..." She opened her mouth and closed it like a broken automatic door.

The blonde waited patiently for the girl to collect her sanity and bravery.

"Yang, would you like to go out with me sometime?" Blake asked all of this with one intake of breath.

The answer came as quickly as the question itself. Immediate, without a second thought.

"Yeah, sure. How about now?" Before she was able to stifle it, Blake let out a little yelp. Swallowing the sound a little too late, she tried to pass it off as a rogue cough. Despite the attempt, Yang was already smirking down at her. Stretching her arm outwards, the blonde grabbed the girl by the wrist and dragged her further away from the art studio. "Come on, I'll treat you to lunch."

"Wait." Blake blinked in confusion and self-doubt. "...Did I actually ask you?"

"Uh huh."

"...And did you say yes?"

"Duh."

Blake narrowed her eyes in unprecedented skepticism. "Is it supposed to be that easy?"

"Are you calling me easy?" Slowing her pace slightly, Yang quirked a single eyebrow towards the art student.

"No! Of course not!" She defended prematurely. "You're nothing less than a challenge..."

"Oh, so I'm difficult to talk to?" The blonde fashioned a look of deep hurt.

Blake willed herself to glare, materializing one of her trademark expressions of frustration that worked fluently on others. Except Yang. The blonde would never falter at such a weak attempt. Laughing pleasantly at the non-threatening gesture, she dropped the act in an instant and tugged the girl even closer by the arm. "How about we bicker some more over sushi? I'll try to keep it down this time."

"You threw up last time because you swallowed a mouthful of wasabi by accident," said Blake, remembering a recent dinner outing the four of them had tried at a nearby Japanese restaurant. "Ruby hid a clump of it inside one of your rolls."

"No wonder!" Yang looked more enlightened by the truth than annoyed at her sister's ingenious prank. "Well, maybe I'll enjoy my dish a bit more then."

"I think we would both feel a lot safer choosing a different menu," suggested Blake thoughtfully, not wanting to force the blonde to eat raw fish when she clearly didn't want to. "...I know a nice affordable place just off of campus. How does pasta sound to you?"

Her crush smiled appreciatively at the offer. "It sounds great."

* * *

"Ruby, I was just indecently exposed to your sister's breasts."

There was a wet explosive sound as water spewed out of the young girl's mouth. Choking from the droplets that ran down the wrong pipe, Ruby coughed several times in pain before addressing her girlfriend properly. "You were _what?_ "

"I just saw your sister completely naked."

Ruby's jaws dropped open and they did not recollect for several following seconds. She looked aghast, wondering what she could have possibly done to deserve having such an uncomfortable conversation with her romantic partner.

"Judging from your reaction, I'm assuming you had nothing to do with the fact that Yang dropped in as a _nude_ model for our art class this morning?" Despite what she said, there was still a hint of accusation remaining in her stern voice.

"No! Oh god, no!" Dark-reddish hair moved quickly in the wind as Ruby bounded up from the ground, a grass clearing she had been temporarily resting at while listening to music. "Of course not! It must have been Coco! She was making these crazy bets with Yang about a week ago!"

"How did she know we take that class?" Weiss quipped a logical question. "She doesn't even know Blake."

"...Right." There was an edgy pause as Ruby reflected upon what she had done during the past week. "I might have mentioned it to her before..."

Her partner stared, knowing too well that she shouldn't be finding the antsy, guilty expression present on her girlfriend's face as something adorable. "So you _were_ a part of this."

"I only let her know that you and Blake were taking that course!" Ruby waved her arms furiously in the air. "I didn't think she'd actually- Yeah, okay, I should have known she'd go ahead and do that without asking..."

"Well, I don't know how on earth a plan like that was supposed to help Blake and Yang." Weiss groaned at the prospect of having to deal with her mortified friend back at their shared living quarters. "I'm sure the two aren't even looking each other in the eye right now."

"Who knows?" Ruby shrugged, having kept a careful tally of the fashion major's extraordinary schemes from the past. "Coco's ideas seem pretty crazy at first, but they actually turn out okay."

"What was her rationale behind this one?"

Ruby felt her face turn crimson. Twiddling her fingers nervously, she muttered, "...She said that seeing each other naked always speeds up the relationship and brings a couple closer together."

"...I think you're too young to be hanging around Coco."

"Hey! I'm only two years younger than you!" Ruby argued in a puffy fit at her partner's rather patronizing remark. Weiss begrudgingly nodded and waited until Ruby continued on the chat with more calculation. "But what you're saying is... So...? You wouldn't like it if, you know, something like that happened between us?"

"Don't tell me you were thinking of doing something like that as well?" Weiss crossed her arms in suspicion. She hardly needed her own girlfriend to storm into her art class, completely starkers. The picture would haunt her in such delusional bliss for an uncountable number of weeks.

"No! Not at all!" The petite girl proceeded to laugh nervously. "I was just curious! Because, uh, apparently some people want to move things...quickly in a relationship...otherwise they get tired..."

The following words came out in a small, uncertain murmur. "And I was wondering if you were...that kind of type...?"

Ruby had thought long and hard over this before deciding to convert her concerns into speech. Stuck between an old happy couple and the prospect of a new passionate one, the young girl had spent a few sleepless nights wondering what it was that her own girlfriend wanted out of their relationship. Were they moving too slow, considering that they had already been dating for a year only to have perfected the practice of a tongue-kiss? Ruby didn't want to be a prude, and she most certainly did not like to be told that she was immature for her age. But most of what the other involved couples did around campus seemed foreign and strange to her untrained ears. She was beginning to think that she was weird, wanting to be the one to wait. It didn't occur to her how Weiss would be feeling about it until Coco mentioned to her last week the brilliantly inappropriate plan she had to hook Blake and Yang up.

Now, the girl stayed rooted to the ground, ogling her own fingers as she waited for Weiss to reply.

And when her partner did, the answer was calm and collected, much like the manner in which the girl stood. Weiss always took most subjects seriously, and if the topic involved an insecure, blubbering girlfriend, her attention radar on the matter spiraled through the roof.

"...Ruby, we're already in a successful relationship." She said her next words carefully and gently. Not an ounce of lie was spoken with her tongue. "I don't want you to feel pressured to rush through anything... I think something so...intimate should be kept between ourselves when we're ready to embrace it..."

"Yeah! Of course!" The girl bobbed her head in agreement, a relieved grin widening on her troubled face. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Okay, well, do you want to grab some lunch now?" Weiss proposed after a while. "I'm starving."

"Sure!" Ruby bent over, pretending to collect her headphones from off the ground. But as soon as her white-haired companion turned around in content, the girl whirled around, swishing her cell out of her pocket and speed dialing a number in impressive stealth.

"...Coco!" Ruby hissed into her phone. "Abort the mission. I repeat, mission abort!"

Only laughter was heard through the other line.


	24. I'll Be Lounging on the Couch

A prompt-based story dedicated to GriffinPaws

* * *

 **Title:** I'll Be Lounging on the Couch

 **Song Prompt:** Lazy Song by Bruno Mars

 **Genre:** Friendship/Humor/Modern AU/One-shot

 **Major Characters:** Yang, Sun, Neptune, Jaune

 **Minor Characters:** Ruby, Weiss

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee, Arkos

 **Synopsis:** Join Yang Xiao Long, Sun Wukong, Neptune Vasilias, and Jaune Arc as they discuss methods in bed, lousy first impressions, and more on this week's podcast! (Rated M for language and adult themes)

* * *

 _"Today I don't feel like doing anything._  
 _I just wanna lay in my bed._  
 _Don't feel like picking up my phone_  
 _So leave a message at the tone._  
 _'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything."_

* * *

"Hey! Welcome to this week's podcast featuring Yang..."

"Sun."

"Neptune."

"And Jaune."

The camera panned outwards into the wide shot, capturing four distinct figures in the room, sitting from left to right in the order in which they had introduced themselves.

"Podcast number 269 is brought to you by Cream-inal, AtlasFit, and Bumbleby, which we will be talking about more a bit later in the show." The sole female of the group spoke into her microphone, reading off from the screen of her bright yellow tablet. Crossing her legs as she finished, Yang Xiao Long sank more comfortably into the cushions of her chair situated to the farthest left side of the studio set. Adhering to tradition, the blonde initiated the conversation with a random subject. "Hey, did you guys know that today is National Honesty Day?"

Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias, two regulars on the weekly podcast, wore the same clueless expression as the lens focused in on the long couch they were plumped down on. "Um… No. Is there such a thing?"

"Yeah, it's because the beginning of this month was April Fool's. So the 30th is actually meant to be the exact opposite of that."

"Oh, I thought that was just a thing people were trying to start over the internet," excused Sun as he readjusted the position of his mike in the air. "Didn't think it was real."

"So what are people supposed to do then? Tell the truth and make up for all the horrible things they did on April Fool's Day?"

"I guess so. I don't know. Ruby told me about it this morning as we were leaving the house for work. But I think she was just using it as a guilt method to make me fess up for stealing some of her cookies last night."

"Nice."

"Well, while we're on the topic of honesty…" The honorary fourth guest for the evening, Jaune Arc, finally slipped in his first comment. "I have something I'd like to say."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yang rudely interrupted him, waving her hand at the young man sitting directly across from her. He gave her an extremely confused look as she hissed at him in forewarning: "Don't announce it now."

"Huh?"

"You know… Wait until we actually get the conversation going," she elaborated, tilting her head slightly, silently nudging at him to get the message.

"Oh!" His eyes widened a bit as he realized what the girl was referring to. "No, I wasn't going to talk about that yet! I was just going to say that I'm very nervous for today's podcast…since I'm here substituting for Coco."

"What?" Yang scoffed in reply. "But you've been on the podcast before."

"Yeah, but usually I was taking over the spot for Neptune or something." Jaune rolled his eyes to accent his point. "That is way less pressure than having to sit in this chair. The camera zooms in on you whenever you say something."

"Hey!" Neptune raised a single finger as he addressed Jaune in mock offense. "I'll have you know that Sun and I are very popular with the viewers, and attempting to fill in for either of us should be seen as an equally difficult task."

"You guys are popular with our _female_ viewers, because Neptune spends half of his time flirting with the girls visiting our booth." Yang narrowed her eyes at the two boys on the coach, looking oddly pleased and accomplished with themselves. "And Sun, you're always wearing a white see-through shirt."

"I have to show these off somehow." Sun straightened up a bit, emphasizing a line of impressive abdomen muscles clearly visible through the thin cotton fabric covering his stomach. Patting down the front of his shirt, he looked over at Jaune with a curious frown. "But what was that about? Do you two have something you were planning to tell us?"

"Uh..." Jaune exchanged a short glance with the girl biting her lips. "Yang, I think you ruined it."

"I'm sorry!" She apologized shortly then added a sharp accusatory remark in her own defense. "But why would you open with a line like that? Obviously I thought you were talking about what happened this weekend."

"What happened this weekend?" inquired Neptune eagerly.

"…I proposed to my girlfriend this weekend," confessed Jaune after a dramatic pause.

There was a sudden silence in the studio. Only the sound of Yang sipping on her bottle of beer was heard as both Sun and Neptune's jaws dropped onto the carpeted floor of the room.

"You did what?!" Sun's body shot forward, nearly bumping the audio equipment near his head as he exclaimed. "Are you serious? Holy shit! Congratulations!"

Neptune's attention was entirely directed towards Jaune as well as he asked in all-seriousness, "Did she say yes?"

"…Of course she said yes!" He cried out the answer in return, unsure whether or not the comment was meant to be taken seriously after seeing the eager expression on his friend's face. "Otherwise why would I be talking about it?"

"Ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about half the time." Sun smirked, rudely dismissing his colleague's question. Instead of answering the blue-haired man's offended visage, he turned to stare at Yang, who had been enjoying the shocked reactions from a close distance. "So you knew about this before us? You told _Yang_ , but not us?"

"Man, Twitter is exploding right now, Jaune. Everyone's saying congratulations," mentioned Yang as she flipped through the social network on her mobile notepad. After an impatient grunt coming from the boys on the couch, the blonde fashioned an annoyingly triumphant grin for Sun to see. "It's because he likes me more."

"Actually, it's because I was consulting with Ruby on what kind of ring I should propose with," interposed Jaune, explaining the real reason to spare himself from a future beating. "Yang walked in on us while we were looking over ring brochures."

"The weirdest thing you can experience in your life is walking into a room and seeing your little sister with Jaune, browsing through a wedding ring catalog," testified Yang, shuddering inwardly at the memory of catching her co-worker pointing at a princess cut ring while Ruby repeated the word 'yes' like a broken high-pitched record.

"Yeah, that wasn't an awkward conversation at all," coughed Jaune, moving past the moment. "But basically, it was just Ruby and Yang…and Ren who knew beforehand since I wanted to keep it as a surprise in case-"

"Weiss knew about it too."

"...Of course." Jaune narrowed his eyes at the newly discovered information. "Good thing you guys are so much better at keeping secrets than-"

"I'm the one who told Weiss," Yang revealed, then laughed at her friend's mild vexation. "I'm sorry! I keep interrupting you."

"…So I wanted to keep it a secret in case Pyrrha found out about it." Jaune continued in a sort of whiny voice. "And then Yang told me to announce the good news on the podcast because I was scheduled to come on for this week."

Sun grunted in reluctant approval. Neptune bobbed his head in understanding and asked the most itching question: "How did you propose?"

"Uh…" The blond scrunched his eyebrows together, appearing to be in great thought as he reflected upon his recent action. "It was just a...nice, ordinary...proposal? You know, the do-you-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-your-life-with-this-dork kind of thing? …So what happened was… We went on a kind of nostalgia trip this Saturday. We were coming back from a film shooting and I suggested that we visit our old high school because it was at Beacon, a small town that's not too far from where we were staying."

"Hold the phone..." Sun raised his hand, stopping Jaune in order for him to clarify something. "You proposed to her at your old high school?"

"It's a lot more romantic than it sounds," argued the piqued blond. "That's where we first met. And then we started dating in our sophomore year so-"

"Yeah, but isn't that because you friendzoned her for like…almost a year?" Neptune brought up a tiny point mentioned before in one of their former podcasts.

"It wasn't intentional!" Jaune shouted heatedly, his cheeks becoming slightly pink. "I didn't know she was into me! Don't you think it's a bit pretentious to assume that a girl likes you just because she doesn't mind hanging around you every day?"

"You _just_ said that she hung around you every day!" laughed Sun as he pointed out a contradictory detail. "What kind of girl hangs around a guy all the time if she's not into him?"

"Hey, give Jaune a break." Yang, though a little late, came to her friend's rescue. "I mean, he's got a point. I hang around you guys all the time and I have not once thought of you in that way."

"But it's different with you! It's because you're into girls!" Neptune responded in an unintentionally blunt manner.

"I've dated guys too!" The woman gasped, as if trivializing the history of her dating record was the worst possible crime to commit. Yang turned her head as the shot closed in on her, sporting a rather flirtatious expression as she winked at the camera. "I'm really not that picky."

"God, I hope Blake's listening to this podcast." Sun wished out loud.

"Nope, she is...in a writer's meeting right now," recollected Yang slowly with a playful grin.

"Still, she's going to watch the recording of this afterwards," he retorted. "She always does."

"I'll just have to keep her distracted during the opening," said the blonde, in yet another suggestive tone.

"Good grief," Sun sighed before deciding to let the subject go. "Well, I still think that if a girl hangs around a guy for a long time, not to be distasteful or anything, but it means she wants some action."

"You're being a little too narcissistic," groaned Yang. "It's wrong to assume that every girl out there just wants to sleep with you."

"That's not what I said!" He shouted fervently at the greatly exaggerated claim. "But I am saying that there's not a lot of truly platonic relationships between a guy and a girl. Somewhere down the road, at least one of them will look at their friend in a different light. Take Jaune's case. He was friends with Pyrrha for over a year until they started dating. It may have been platonic for him but it wasn't for her."

"The important part is that I stopped being an idiot and nobody got hurt." Jaune eased out the battlefield before Yang could bite out her next argument.

"How does it feel like to propose?" Neptune, twenty seven years old and currently single, asked the question in a vaguely dream-like voice.

"I don't know. Some people say that asking someone to marry you should be the easiest thing in the world if she's the right one. But it wasn't like that for me… And not because she's not the one!" He added on hurriedly, effectively stopping the start of three different retorts from around the room. "It's because I am possibly the least confident guy there ever will be."

The rest of the spectators nodded along at the truthfulness of his last statement.

"So Pyrrha had this favorite spot outside in the school courtyard, next to all the maple trees where we used to hang out after classes? That's where I got down on one knee to ask her...the hardest question in the human planet." The storyteller chuckled slightly, being able to nervously laugh about it now that it was over. "And I swear, the gap between asking a girl to marry you to the response you get is the longest period a person will ever have to wait for."

Neptune frowned at the idea. "Oh, so she took a long time to get back to you?"

"No! No, she said yes right away." Jaune struggled to explain his reasoning. "But it's like…your brain, you know? It just goes haywire when it's under that much pressure? And everything becomes... Everything turns into slow motion. Didn't you ever have that kind of experience before? Where your heart just stops beating?"

"I did." Neptune answered. "Last month when I accidentally dropped my phone from the second floor balcony."

"That's... That's not the same."

"So…you're engaged now and everybody knows." Sun shifted in his seat, grabbing a standard bottle of beer from a box prepared on the table. "If you asked her this weekend though, nothing's decided yet, right?"

"Uh... Yeah, nothing's set in stone for now," said Jaune as he passed his friend a bottle opener from the side. "We're pretty busy with work at the moment, but we both know that we want to do it sometime in autumn."

"Ah, a fall wedding." Sun gleamed as he popped the lid off of his cold Corona. "You've been dreaming about this day ever since you were a little girl, weren't you?"

"Yes," Jaune spoke deeply into his mike, "and I'm not ashamed to admit it."

Neptune, stealing the opened drink from his best friend, faced the blond boy with great excitement. "Am I going to be your best man?"

"That's…" The future groom stretched out his reply in a high-pitched tone of blatant uncertainty. "That's up for debate."

"I think he would ask Ren to be his best man," teased Yang. "But can I be Pyrrha's maid of honor?"

"I think she would ask Nora, since they've been best friends since high school?" Neptune answered instead, repeating the blonde's previous remark with intentions to mock.

"Yeah, well... Whoever it is, the bride's best friend would be so proud that day, she's practically _made of honor._ " Posing a goofy smile, she glanced at everyone around the room. "Get it? Get it?"

"No, we get it. It's just not funny," deadpanned Sun, not forgetting to wear his trademark expression of annoyance at his friend's horrible pun.

"Nice effort though." Neptune gave out a small pity laughter as he usually did.

"A part of me wanted Jaune to propose _just_ so that I can use up all my wedding day puns." Yang laughed, raising her glass to the blond quirking his eyebrow at her. "I'm kidding! I'm very happy for you."

"Yeah! A toast!" The duo on the couch brought up their beers next to the blonde and waited for the man of the hour to join them. "To Jaune and Pyrrha!"

"Thanks." The engaged man chuckled as he leaned forward. The bottles clanged together in a nice chime. "It's pretty hard to feel bad about anything at the moment."

"Well, while you were off tying the knot," began Yang after a quick swig. "I had some problems with Zwei this weekend."

"Oh no, what did he do now?" Jaune asked, looking partially relieved that the attention had been taken away from him.

"He was yelping and scratching his body all over the furniture. Turns out, he had a serious case of the fleas, so I had to vacuum the entire place, get him this special leash and shampoo…? And I had to give him a bath." The blonde noticeably cringed. "But Zwei's weird. For some reason... He likes being in water? Don't dogs normally not like that?"

"I think you're thinking about cats," Neptune contributed with his narrow spectrum of knowledge. "Cats don't like going in water."

"I'm pretty sure it's the same for dogs too." She shook her head, rendering the point as irrelevant to the story. "But it doesn't matter because Zwei loves his baths. He enjoys it _too much_. Saturday morning was just me and him, wrestling on the bathroom floor...for an hour and a half as I tried to pin him down, wash him, and comb his flea-infested fur, but all he wanted to do was run around the house, soaking wet."

"Your dog is adorable." Jaune cooed. "You should bring him to the office more often."

"We, uh, we actually have a pretty big story that involves Zwei…" Sun threw Neptune an extremely cautious glance. "And I think it's time to tell it."

"No. Don't do it. Don't do it." His couch companion shook his head furiously as he half-warned and half-pleaded. "You promised me that we would take this story to the grave."

"Must be some secret, if you're willing to tell it for the first time on a live podcast." Yang smirked, not taking the situation seriously at all.

"I mean, the audience won't care because it only involves us and Zwei," said Sun as he shrugged. "And I feel like now is a good time to mention it since this is turning out to be the honesty podcast. That's what's going to be on the thumbnail for this week."

With a resolved sigh, he settled the beer bottle onto the table. "So Yang?"

Sun punched a cushion at the squirming blue-haired boy to this left then moved in his seat to boldly stare up at his female friend. "We fucked up your dog once."

"You..." It took a moment for the blonde to recover from that particular statement. "You did what?"

Meanwhile, the boys in the room winced away in fear.

"Not like in the gross sense!" Sun shouted whilst backing off into the sofa padding.

"It was an accident! But we... Uh... Yeah, we nearly killed your dog." Neptune, in his opinion, better phrased it.

"What?" Yang began to raise her voice, obviously not liking how either of the sentences were being verbalized. "How? When? When did you _almost kill my dog?_ "

"It was like years ago, when you and Ruby went on vacation to Mexico!" With his friend's outrage spurring him on, Sun spoke quite rapidly. "You asked me to house sit for you and make sure Zwei would be okay on his own. And I was perfectly fine with it! Zwei is a great dog and I'm good with all kinds of animals."

"But one day…" The story began its downfall as the narrator gulped down a clump of saliva. "I called Neptune over because we were going to watch the Super Bowl at your place. And Neptune brought like...a ton of food. He bought hot wings, full packs of beer... And a massive amount of sweets."

There was a short pause after his last sentence, indicating that this would become an important plot device later on.

"Well, around halftime, we'd already gone through like three cans of beer each," continued Neptune. "And we were too distracted to notice Zwei...waking up from his little nap and walking towards us...and the mountain of food. Basically he, uh, he accidentally found my stash of dark chocolate."

"Oh god, where is this story going...?" moaned Jaune, hiding his face behind his two hands, trying very hard not to laugh at the blonde's increasingly mortified visage, in fear of getting punched.

"Zwei had slashed through the wrappers and was just gnawing at the whole bar. Neptune, thankfully, saw this in time. But by that point Zwei had already eaten like two whole sticks. And this guy…" Sun thumped his partner-in-crime, hard, on the shoulder. "This guy just went...berserk. Neptune slammed down his beer, picked up Zwei in his hands, stared into your corgi's eyes and started _wailing_ at him."

At Yang's less-than-amused reaction, Sun included as a side-note, "If not for the situation, it would have been hilarious."

"I was trying to convince him to spit out the chocolate." Neptune clarified the logic behind his decision making.

"And thanks to that, I started freaking out too! Because that shit kills dogs! And it wasn't even our dog! So while Neptune is trying to communicate with Zwei, I started raiding your cupboards, trying to find some sort of medicine, because there's this sort of chemical thing you can inject your dog with if he eats chocolate?" Sun, for the first time since the retelling, shot the female a crossed glare. "But you had NOTHING! Absolutely nothing that could save your dog's life!"

"Because we aren't stupid!" Yang hollered defiantly. "We don't leave chocolate around on the ground for Zwei to get to!"

"How?! How can you be so sure of that?" He argued fiercely. "Ruby eats chocolate every fucking day! Clearly you're not prepared for emergencies like the one we had! We were full-on panicking! Eventually, I gave up on searching for something that'll make your dog vomit and we had to rush out of the apartment-"

"You just left him there?" Blue eyes widened from across the room.

"No!" Sun whirled around angrily, answering to a confused Jaune. "We took him with us, of course! We aren't monsters! Just leave him there to die and let our friend come home to a corpse? Geez! Then there would be two more dead bodies found the next day."

"Yeah, so we took Zwei, and we ran like crazy to the nearest vet, which was fortunately just a couple of blocks down the street." Neptune took over the conversation, cutting in between a fuming Sun and a defenseless Jaune. "And we were out of breath and sweating, and we dropped Zwei on the counter, in front of this poor receptionist, and I think... I think I just started screaming at her. I don't actually remember what we said?"

"Yeah, no. This guy was screaming for sure. Pretty sure it was along the lines of: please save this fucking dog, he ate two tons of my shitty dark chocolate and now he's going to die and my friend's going to kill me," Sun guessed, taking the beer on the table back into his hands. "But man, it was terrible. For Zwei though, I bet it was a blast. Because he didn't know that he was going to die! He probably thought that Uncle Sun and Uncle Neptune were taking him out for a crazy walk or something."

"Anyways, really sorry for almost killing your dog," said Sun in afterthought. "But seriously, do not leave me or Neptune in charge of Zwei or any other household pet ever again. I swear to god, next time he may not survive."

"…Duly noted." Yang groaned, visibly relieved that the story had a nice conclusion. Otherwise she would have to be ripping off her co-worker's limbs after the podcast.

"At least it's a happy ending, right?" Neptune grinned stupidly. "He's still alive and breathing?"

"If he wasn't..." growled the pet owner. "Neither of you two would be here today."

"Yeah, Yang would have murdered us the day she got back." Sun chuckled lightly at the possibility of being strangled at the hands of a vengeful blonde. It certainly wasn't a pleasant way to go, but he always did imagine that somewhere down the road, an idiotic venture or blunder initiated by his blue-haired friend would be the death of him.

"Oh, before I could even get to you, Ruby would have your heads on spikes." Yang pointed out with a small malicious smile.

"She totally would!" Jaune agreed almost immediately at the statement. "Ruby is terrifying when she's angry."

"And it's even scarier when she does it because Ruby rarely ever gets mad." Sun concurred as well. "Sometimes she'll get irritated if we steal from her secret stash of cookies or something. But usually she's a very happy and easygoing person."

"Has she ever been truly mad though?" Neptune seemed as clueless as usual. "I feel like I've never seen her explode before."

"As someone who has lived with her for the past twenty six years, I can assure you that Ruby can scare the shit out of people when she is _really_ upset." Yang laughed as they talked about her category of expertise. "What she does is... She stacks up her anger little by little? And everything that upsets her piles up inside until she finally explodes. The funny thing though is that after she blows up, just like an hour later, she's completely forgotten all about it."

"Would you prefer people getting mad at you like that? Just raging on you in one huge screaming match?" Neptune raised a new hypothetical question, which he directed at no one in particular. "Or would you want them to happen in like separate intervals? Less in degree but like...more spaced out."

"So...basically you're asking if I'd rather deal with Ruby or with Weiss," pondered Yang.

"What...?" The boy appeared to mull over this idea for a moment. "Oh... Oh yeah! I guess you can say that Weiss is more of the latter."

"You do know that she can hear us from the control room? I can see her standing there…and…" Jaune observed as he pointed to a scene beyond the camera. "Yup, she's glaring at us."

"Oh, she knows we love her," said Yang in an offhand manner.

"Actually, you and I are like that as well," Sun noted, pointing to his fellow blonde. "We don't really keep it in if something bothers us. Usually, we let it out right away, and that way we don't hold any grudges."

"Honestly, I would prefer it in intervals." Jaune shifted uncomfortably in his chair, as if the simple idea of having a massive confrontation terrified him. "I feel like if it happens often enough, you're more prepared for it. Besides, I've gotten used to being yelled at by Weiss every time I mess up something on set or I'm late for an important staff meeting or something."

Yang grinned teasingly. "That does seem to happen a lot."

"Yeah, but..." As if unsatisfied with the conversation, Neptune altered his prior inquiry. "If you had to choose though, who would you least want to piss off the most?"

"You mean among us?"

"Like, the whole company," he clarified. "Everybody we know who works here. Who do you think would be the worst to deal with in a fight?"

"...I'm not going to answer that...because if I do, I may get punched...since she is sitting right beside me?" Sun felt a hardened glare coming at him from his right. "I'm just kidding! Yang's great! I feel like the person I would _really_ be worried about though...is Nora, one of our go-to girls for props and stage equipment? If I'm in an argument with Nora, words would do nothing. She would... She could straight up just break my legs."

"Speaking of breaking bones, mind telling us what you did to your wrist?" Jaune pointed to something hidden behind the table.

"Oh, this thing?" Neptune lifted up his left hand into view, revealing a light blue cast that he presently wore. "Funny story. I, uh, I was in a car accident yesterday."

"What?" Yang nearly dropped her second bottle of beer. "What happened?"

"So I was-"

"Hold on." The blonde grumbled, wiping a few droplets of beer off the screen of her tablet. "Let me read this first."

Sun let out a short hearty laugh. "Yeah, because fuck you, Neptune. Nobody cares about your broken wrist."

"I'm sorry!" Yang said, in response to Neptune's offended countenance. "Weiss is yelling into my earpiece that I was supposed to have read this two minutes ago!"

Clearing her throat, Yang talked over the boy's disgruntled mutters and Sun's continued chortles. "Okay, this week's podcast is brought to you by Cream-inal! The world's best provider of ice cream for kids, teenagers, adults, and elders alike. Our products are so good, it would be a crime to sell them. But we'd rather be criminals than deprive you of these delicious treats! Cream-inal has a wide range of original flavors to choose from like Banana split sundae, Neapolitan ice cream with orange sprinkles, and more! We promise you that our products are richer, creamier, and tastier than anything you've ever experienced."

As she continued reading off her script, a few captions flew onto the bottom half of the screen. "Cream-inal also began its very own delivery service. Go to our website and sign up for a free account today and have our products shipped to your door from our local stores. Subscribe now with the promo code YangKicksAss to get a 15% discount on your first batch of delicious ice cream. I repeat, the promo code is YangKicksAss. Please use it to let them know we sent you."

"Do you get to decide on those promotional codes?" A curious Jaune asked as the blonde host finished up the advertisement.

"Weiss made the mistake of letting our sponsors contact me while she was away for business." Yang grinned broadly. "I think it's very appropriate."

"Weiss is shaking her head." The blond boy observed once again. "Maybe she disagrees."

"Can't imagine why," said Sun sarcastically.

"Can I tell my story now?" Neptune butted in, holding up his wrapped injury in order to pull the attention back onto himself.

"Sure, go ahead."

"You guys saw the first of the new Grimm Trilogy series, right?" He started off with a rather random topic of reference. "The remake of the really old one back in the seventies or something?"

"Yes, because I'm the one who told you to go watch that movie," Sun reminded the disorganized narrator.

"Exactly. So, Scarlet, Sage, and I were going to the cinema to see it. And I was in the back seat of the car, just on my phone as usual. Scarlet was driving us there in his car and Sage was in the front seat." Neptune drew a steady picture of yesterday's event. "But we were in a bit of a rush since the movie was starting in like five minutes and we didn't want to miss the commercials. So Scarlet was parking straight into this empty slot when-"

"Did he smash you guys into a wall?" Yang interrupted, making the suggestion with inappropriate keenness.

"No, no. Scarlet is actually a really careful driver, to the point where it gets a little annoying," Neptune revealed a sad truth about his British friend. "He goes like thirty miles an hour when he should be going fifty. It literally kills me when he drives. But anyway, he parked the car... And I opened the door as soon as we stopped."

He pantomimed the motion, adding onto the image of his story. "Then out of nowhere, this SUV comes shooting into the space next to ours and the driver ends up taking the entire door off."

"What?" Yang's mouth dropped open. "Didn't they see you getting out?"

"How the heck did you manage to escape from that?" Jaune blurted out, with equal amount of distress.

"I pulled my arm away really quickly, but there was still a bit of contact… And I just heard it go like...snap." Everybody cringed, knowing too well the sound of a broken bone. Neptune, meanwhile, played with the sides of his cast, continuing casually as he did so. "The driver wasn't a jerk about it though. He was really nice. He gave us his number and we're going to work it out later with the insurance company."

"Well, that's a relief," breathed Jaune.

"But man, Scarlet was furious, because it was _his_ car." As he was saying this though, Neptune looked to be quite amused at the memory of a steaming redhead driver. "He spazzed about it for hours. Plus, we missed the movie because they had to take me to the hospital... So yeah, it was a great day."

"At least nobody else was hurt." The blonde said in an optimistic tone. "And you managed to get out of it with just a broken wrist."

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty lucky about that."

"Yang sent me the most awkward text last week," Sun cut in.

"Oh, so we're done with me now?" Neptune raised an irritated brow at his fellow colleague on the couch.

"Weren't you done? Sorry, I felt like the conversation was beginning to lull and decided to take over." After all, Sun had already heard the news via a fussy Scarlet last night. "So, anyway, Yang… Yang looks like she's ready to kill me."

The blonde bared her teeth at the young man, who chuckled nervously from beside her. "Are we really going to talk about this?"

"I'll at least let you tell the story," relented Sun.

"…Last week..." said Yang after a deep intake of breath. "Around one in the morning... I was at a bar with Coco... And after having several shots of tequila, I accidentally sent Sun a slightly…unsuitable text that was meant for Blake."

"And since we keep mentioning her, for those of you who don't know already, Blake is one of our main writers here at the company-"

"As well as my girlfriend."

"-as well as Yang's girlfriend," Sun consented the interruption.

"What did it say?" Neptune chimed in gleefully.

Groaning, as if not wanting to continue, the blonde silently gestured for the other to take over. Sun, gladly, took out his phone from the front pocket of his jeans. "Here, let me pull it out. Keep talking, I need to scroll up quite a bit."

"Do you sext often?"

Yang appeared to be in quiet thought, not at all offended by the question as intrusive queries, often through the courtesy of Neptune, had become a norm on the podcast. "I think you know how weirdly inappropriate I can get while texting other people. I mean, I do it to you guys sometimes?"

"Yeah, but those are all jokes." Neptune prodded on. "If it's with someone you're dating though, does it get...even worse than it usually is?"

"Uh..."

"Got it," announced Sun as he finished his search on the chat history. "Let me read exactly what happened. I texted her: Is Blake with you? Because I needed to check on something for an upcoming event and she wasn't answering her phone."

His finger moved the screen down a bit as he laid out the context. "And then Yang texted back: Ktttty? Now, I know that kitty is a nickname Yang uses on Blake, so I reply with: Yeah, do you know where Blake is?"

Sun laughed by himself, finding the next message already too funny. "And then she texted back... Smuh. What did you- What did you even mean by that?"

"I honestly don't know." Yang cracked a pained smile.

"I read that. And I was like... Okay, this is either a really weird typo or Yang's drunk." Sun recounted his thought process at the moment. "So I ignored the message and I was looking through the notifications left on my phone? But then Yang sent me another text. This one said... Wgrer sar u, which I believe was supposed to say... Where are you? And as the conversation is going on like this, I realize that Yang thinks she's talking to Blake."

"I'm impressed by your deciphering skills," Jaune remarked.

"Well, it's not the first drunk text I got from this idiot. So naturally, it's getting pretty obvious to me that Yang is just out of it. And I was about to let her know that she was talking to me, but then she texted me this..." Sun shuffled in his seat as he prepared himself to read the next three words. "Vagg... Nang... Bang?"

There was a howl of laughter being heard from the control room. Neptune sniggered into his microphone while Jaune had the decency to move away from the screen before he joined in on the mockery.

"That's not even the worst part!" Sun, through restrained snickers, choked out. "After that, she flooded the chat room with nothing but question marks!"

"Oh god." Neptune was nearly sobbing by this point. "How- How many did she send?"

"Sixteen! She sent me _sixteen fucking question marks_ after already having asked if we could do it!" Sun proceeded to joke through the continued fit of giggles. "Goddamn it, Yang! If I don't reply after the first bang request, learn to take the hint!"

"Not subtle at all!" Neptune clutched at his side.

Sun rolled his eyes. "Yeah, smooth as fuck!"

Yang's hands were now permanently attached to her forehead, both in shame and self-deprecation. "Can somebody please change the subject?"

"No way!" The blue-haired co-worker stopped her. "We are not leaving this here."

"This is an incredible violation of my privacy!"

"You talk about your sex life all the time!"

"This is a great podcast, you guys," Jaune muttered in the background.

"Yeah! But this is different!" Yang shouted in return, completely unperturbed. "Everyone knows who I'm dating at the moment since she works at the stupid company!"

"Wait, I need to ask this." A taunting simper materialized on Sun's face. "If you had sent this properly to Blake, what would she have said?"

"She would have said hell no," answered Yang shortly. "Now, what's the best method you've all used in bed?"

"Hey!" Sun shot up his arms in indignation. "Come on!"

"I'm just trying to change the subject!"

"That's exactly what I was hey-ing you about!"

"Fine, fine…" Neptune sided with the blonde before his best friend was beaten to a pulp. "Here's a better question then. What is the worst possible thing that has happened to you in bed?"

Sun scowled. "Okay, I know for a fact that we had this discussion before."

"Since we're all sharing, I had a cold once…" Jaune fiddled with his bangs in embarrassment. "And I accidentally sneezed in this girl's face while I was with her. She uh- She never called me back."

Neptune looked absolutely livid. "Are you serious?"

"Um… Yeah?" Jaune frowned, puzzled by the over-the-top response.

"You mean you weren't a virgin before you met Pyrrha?" Sun, mimicking his friend's fake shock, interjected.

"…I hate you guys."

"…Well, I had a really bad experience with a girl I dated a long time ago..." Neptune began again in a more sullen tone, after sharing a short laugh with his mischievous colleague. "I was at her place. The mood was great. It was all romantic and all… But prior to this… I had stayed up three nights in a row, studying for my finals? So I was really tired and I... I, uh, just fell asleep."

The three individuals spewed out significant portions of their drinks. Sun, wiping his chin with his bare arm, laughed the loudest. "You just lost your dude membership because of that."

"In my defense!" shouted Neptune over the thunderous roar. "Every other time we had sex, she always just…lay there."

"What do you mean she just laid there?" Sun repeated the words back at him, emphasizing each syllable with condensed disbelief.

"Like she was the kind of girl who made no sounds, no- no distinct signs of pleasure or excitement." Neptune thrust his uninjured hand in the air out of pure frustration. "She showed no effort! It was always just me! Didn't you ever experience something like that before?"

"That's impossible! You are obviously doing something wrong if your partner is just lying there like a fucking statue!"

"I love how you said: in my defense." Yang beamed at the opportunity to poke fun at her friend. "So, you fell asleep during sex as a statement? This was your way of getting revenge?"

"It wasn't _during_ sex! It was- It was seconds before anything happened!" sputtered Neptune.

"Oh, okay. Because _that_ would be much worse?" drawled the blonde.

"It would be much worse!"

"Does it really matter?" Sun's volume reached its peak. "You fell asleep on top of her!"

"No! That's not true!" Neptune nearly whacked his buddy across the face with his beer, turning too abruptly in his seat. "I was on the bottom, so there's a chance she didn't even notice!"

The room exploded in a ripple of hysterical guffaws and the sound of cracking rib cages.

"Can we- Can we call her up and ask?" Jaune said through searing gasps for air.

"As if he would still have her number…" Sun trailed off, seeing a fidgety grin forming on his friend's face. "You still have her fucking number?!"

"We keep in touch from time to time!" Neptune attempted to minimize the seriousness of his affairs, to no avail. "It's not a big deal!"

"But… She's your ex!" He shouted, unable to comprehend neither his best friend nor the girl. "She's your ex who you fell asleep during sex with! Why on earth would she want to talk to you?"

"Come on." Neptune flashed him a very confident smile, showing off his cool-guy demeanor, as if this settled the matter. Ignoring Sun's flabbergasted attitude, he turned to the other two. "Are any of you still in contact with your exes?"

Nevertheless, he gained no empathy from Yang, who shook her head ardently. "No. No way."

"Really?"

"Yeah. When I break up with someone, usually that's where the tie ends," elucidated Yang, sliding her hand over in a brutal slashing motion. "Unless we were really close friends before anything happened between us, I want everything to be resolved for that particular relationship."

"It's the opposite for me." Neptune crossed his arms. "I don't want my relationships with people to just die off because I broke up with them."

"So you're still in touch with all of your exes?" Sun broke out from his previous stupor.

"Well, not _all_ of them." He shrugged. "But yeah, some. They contact me. I contact them. We seldom joke about stuff and talk about random things. Is it that weird?"

"It's...weird? I don't know." For a moment, Sun struggled to proceed. "Because for me, I think it's hard to leave all of that emotional shit behind. If I was hanging out with my ex all the time, I feel like that would eventually open up a can of worms, you know? And it would either end with us getting back together or...the relationship becomes so awkward and depressing that we can never see each other again."

"But I'm not hanging around them all the time!" Neptune maintained his standpoint. "That would definitely be weird! It's not that I'm still pining for them or vice versa. You just get over that stage and move on and you stay as friends."

Sighing, Sun turned his gaze elsewhere. "Have any of you had a stalker?"

"What does this have to do with anything!" squawked Neptune.

"No, it's because what you just said reminded me of something I read," he replied casually, taking another bottle of beer from a cooler located underneath the table.

Neptune narrowed his eyes at the rationale. "Something I said reminded you of crazy stalkers?"

"Okay. Let me first tell the story." Sun took a thirsty gulp out of his beer before he began. "So I was surfing the web yesterday, and I read this thing on Reddit. There was this girl and she dated this guy in high school for about...two to three months? Anyways, they broke up and graduated. They went off to different colleges in different states, but they still talked. The guy kept messaging her through Facebook or some sort of online chat system? And he was all nice and civil, and she thought it was totally cool too because he was a good friend to have and they only dated for so long."

"But one day…" Sun glanced to his left then his right, making sure everyone was paying attention. "She got back to her apartment after ending a long-term relationship with this other guy? She had a couple of cocktails before coming home so she went straight to bed. But when she woke up the next morning though... Guess what she finds?"

"Oh... He's there." Jaune cried. "He was there, wasn't he?"

"He was there," acknowledged Sun with a short bob of his head. "He was apparently just sitting on her living room couch...completely naked."

"What?" Yang hissed in incredulity.

"She needs to get a new couch."

"…What?" Sun blinked, glancing towards his blue-haired workmate.

"I mean, it's disgusting." Neptune crinkled his nose up in displeasure. "The guy was going commando on her couch. Who knows what he did on it."

"Here's Neptune with the big picture." The other boy scoffed. "I'm talking about a crazy naked stalker, and you're worried about the well-being of the couch."

"His ass print is probably all over the leather! If she accidentally uses it, it would be so unhygienic!"

"I would imagine that she just moved to an entirely different neighborhood after this," hummed Yang. "Wait, so what happened next? Did it say?"

"...Um, I think she called the police before he could pull anything," replied Sun rather indifferently. "But yeah... It's still a pretty traumatizing thing to experience, especially after a break up. This woman must be thinking that every guy she meets will either be a jackass or a total creep."

"Well, I'm so glad that what I said reminded you of this story." Neptune swished the remaining alcohol in his bottle around before chugging it down. "You're giving everybody the wrong impression."

"Neptune Vasilias, everybody." Sun chuckled as he tugged on his friend's arm. "Ladies, come and get him. He's single and ready to mingle."

"Hey, so, what's your definition of love?" Jaune moved onto a different topic. "Do you think that it's something that can be like...labelled with a certain word or phrase? Like if this happens, then it's enough to qualify as love?"

"No, I don't think there is one. And I think it's stupid to ask for such a thing," dismissed Sun quite quickly.

"Wow, Sun is just being an asshole to everybody today." Yang quipped.

"It's my character."

"Well, it's not like I believe that there is but..." Jaune made the purpose of the question clearer. "I read this really interesting article recently, and it was about these mathematicians who made a formula to calculate the amount of love in a relationship?"

Sun continued to look unconvinced. "That sounds...incredibly doubtful."

"Hold on," the blond boy sighed as he picked up his laptop off from the floor. "Let me find it."

"I think it's sad that people would try to take concepts like love and put a numerical measure on it," commented Sun with unconstrained honesty. "You can tell that some people have nothing better to do with their time."

"Maybe they're all single and really desperate to get with someone?" Neptune reasoned from the side. "So they wanted to figure out a way that they can use to get laid."

"Here it is," Jaune stated as he clicked open the correct link. "Sorry, I said it wrong, it wasn't the measure of love, but it was the predicted length of a relationship. The mathematicians that did this claim that the factors include: the number of years the two people knew each other, the number of previous partners before the relationship, the male partner's investment in honesty, the female's attachment to money, each individual's value of humor, each individual's value of physical appearance in attraction, the importance of sex, good connections between family members, and the possibility of future children."

"That still sounds like a load of bull shit."

"I don't know." Yang shrugged. "What you read makes a lot more sense than an equation for love. Because everything that you just said...those factors are very important things to consider, especially in a long-term relationship."

"All of that was pretty obvious though!" Sun argued with worsened exasperation. "Like... the male partner's investment in honesty? Cheating and lying will, of course, cause problems for a couple. How stupid and pathetic do they think we are if they need to spell that out for us?"

"But... The value of humor?" Neptune frowned. "Does that really matter? If it does, then that worries me because I'm not a very funny guy."

"Neptune, you are a very funny guy. You just don't know that you're funny." Sun patted his friend gently on the back. "But yeah, humor seems like a pretty big deal. I can't ever engage with someone for too long if they're boring as hell."

Yang nodded approvingly. "I second Sun on that."

"Is Blake funny?"

The blonde glowered at the inquiry. "Why does the conversation keep switching back to Blake?"

The blue-haired boy cowered slightly at the unexpected hostility. "Because! It's...interesting!"

"Because Neptune has no personal boundaries." Sun offered a better explanation.

"Blake has her own sense of humor" was all that Yang could say in response.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that...she's not funny in the sense of jokes or puns?" The blonde shot the control room a wary glance, shifting as if she were sitting on a pin cushion.

"Do you believe that what you listed just now constitutes as funny?" Sun jeered. "Are you sure? Even the puns?"

Bypassing her friend's snide comment, Yang huffed. "...Her humor is a lot more...mature. Closer to sarcasm... Kind of like Weiss."

"But I feel like there are better qualities in a person than the ability to make you laugh," Jaune gave out his point of view. "Like with Pyrrha, she's not the type to crack any inappropriate jokes or anything either. She's actually pretty serious in everything that she does. But it's when she tries so hard that she ends up being funny. Humor is just...totally subjective to a person."

"What about kids?" Sun steered them all to a different issue. "Do you feel like you want kids in the future?"

"Yeah...? It'd be nice to have kids someday." Jaune contemplated for a short while before resuming. "I feel like if I do though, I would want a boy. Because if I have a son, I only have to worry about my son. If I have a daughter though, I have to worry about all the other sons in the world."

"Really? I'd love to have a daughter," opposed Neptune with a frank frown. "We boys are disgusting."

"You would think that girls are less disgusting than boys..." Yang smirked at her friend's naivety. "But the truth is, we ladies are just as gross as the men. Move in with a girl and you will know."

"Oh, trust me. I know. You and Ruby broke that illusion for me a long time ago." Sun grimaced. "The first time I went over to your apartment it was like a scene from Apocalypse Now in there."

"What about you, Yang?" Jaune wondered. "Do you want kids?"

"Eh, I don't know. It's too early to think about that, isn't it? Besides... Even though I'm good with kids, I don't really like kids." The boys in the room let out an exaggerated fake gasp. "Oh, come on! Children are horrible. I mean, sure, babies are cute when their cheeks are all puffy and squishy. But kids are crying all the time. They make a mess everywhere! When I was younger, because we grew up without a mother, I had to be kind of like the matriarch of the family? So I have a lot of experience dealing with kids because I took care of Ruby. But seriously, every other child in the world is so not worth the trouble."

"You'd feel differently though, once it's _your_ baby!" Sun insisted for the blonde to reconsider.

"Maybe..." But then the blonde suddenly flinched, grabbing at the left side of her face as she pulled out a small wireless device. Facing the direction of the control room, she shouted in great aggravation. "For fuck's sake, Weiss! Stop screaming in my ear!"

There were a few muffled shouts echoing from the control room that went unheard to the audience listening in.

"Every goddamn podcast..." Yang murmured darkly to herself as she flipped over the cover of her tablet. "This podcast is also brought to you by AtlasFit. At AtlasFit, we offer you the best training program possible. Tired of going to the gym and not seeing any results? Our personal trainers will make sure that your body sees results as they perfect an exercise program that is most suited for you. Whether you want to impress that girl with a six pack or you simply just want to get fit, AtlasFit is the right place for you! And for those of you who don't want to leave the house but still want to stay healthy? AtlasFit provides an online delivery service where you can order your own personalized gym equipment to be shipped right to your door! Sign up now and get a free week trial with one of our best trainers. Use the promotion code YangKicksAss when you do. I repeat the promo code is YangKicksAss. Please go through our company website to let them know we sent you."

"I'm actually subscribed to AtlasFit right now." Sun, for a brief moment, folded up the front of his shirt to reveal a perfect set of pecks. "Most of this was made with their program."

"Honestly, I wish AtlasFit didn't sponsor us anymore," Yang divulged. "It always just gives Sun an excuse to lift up his shirt."

"It helps with our views though."

"But going back to what we were talking about with that article." The blonde put down her tablet on the table as she took her half-empty bottle of alcohol. "What you said reminded me of this other thing I read online too. And it was about this sort of experiment where they locked two strangers together in a room and they tried to see what it would take to get them to fall in love?"

"Oh!" Blue irises, widened by recognition, met the blonde in an instant. "You sent me a link to this before!"

"That sounds like a cage match," opinionated Neptune.

"Ha-ha, yeah." Sun took it a level further as he clapped his hands together. "Put two people in a box. MATE!"

"No, no, so what they did is..." Jaune started to describe, "They paired up the strangers and put them together in a room. And they have three sets of questions to ask one another, and each of them gets more and more personal with every turn. The organizer of the experiment wanted to prove that by asking and answering those questions, people can fall in love."

"And at the end of it, the paired partners had to stare into each other's eyes for a certain period of time." The blonde provided the last bit of information to the story.

"This sounds fun." Neptune beamed with unadulterated enthusiasm. "Can we try this experiment at the company?"

"If you want?" She grinned at the boy's avid response. "If you think it would work."

"I feel like that the experiment would have a lot of flaws though." Sun brought in a shot of cynicism into the group as usual. "Whether or not the partners hook up wouldn't really depend on the questions? I mean, usually when you meet someone, you have a first impression. And that first impression generally determines whether or not you want to be sleeping with them or not."

"First impressions change though. I remember seeing Weiss for the first time and going like, man, it is going to be hard working with this girl from now on. And then it turns out..." Yang simmered for a moment in well-deserved silence. "Well, she's pretty nice."

" _Pretty_ nice?" A female voice, this time much more coherent, called out from behind the cameras. Yang simply replied with uninhibited laughter.

"Yeah, but you don't want to hook up with Weiss." Sun moved on with his point. "I'm talking solely about first impressions for relationships."

"It's the same!"

"No, no. I'm going to have to team with Yang on this one," Neptune intervened with a crooked side-grin. "And you're a great example of proving Sun wrong. Blake told me that her first impression of Yang wasn't very nice. Which was surprising to me because I would have imagined that Yang would have the best first impression out of all of us. Well, maybe except Jaune."

"Not really, I, uh, I puked in front of you guys the first time we met, remember?" This sparked a rather unpleasant memory for the people sitting around the room. "Because I got a little car sick?"

"Oh yeah!" Neptune said as rested his chin on his fist. "We called you Vomit Boy for about two months after that."

"Wait, so, what did Blake say?" Yang asked quickly, extremely intrigued by the prospect of a story she hadn't heard of yet. "I don't remember doing anything that would have offended her..."

"Okay, so here's what happened." Neptune shifted forward onto the edge of the couch. "She said that she was walking into the building for the first time, and you were standing near the fridge with...I think...Ruby. Then apparently you saw her first and started striking up a conversation, but none of what you were saying made any sense."

"Huh? What do you mean I didn't make any sense?"

"Apparently you started complimenting her looks?" Neptune tried to clarify. "But you mistook her bow as cat ears. And you said you liked her pajamas when she was obviously dressed for work."

"But that's not all!" He sliced through Yang's garbled objections. "At the end, _at the end of it_ , she said you called her a lost cause."

"You called a woman you just met a lost cause?" Jaune shot his female friend a stunned look from across the table.

"Holy shit, Yang! The first time you guys meet: Oh god, you're such a lost cause. Two months later, you're banging each other off set. Like, how is that possible?" Sun ridiculed playfully. "Did I miss something in between? Because that seems like a pretty big leap to take."

"No, no... I remember that story now!" The blonde blinked rapidly as her brain began to recollect an old muddled memory. When the past event finally returned to her, Yang let out an ample laugh. "I was really, _really_ drunk that day."

"You were drunk at three o'clock in the afternoon?" Even for their alcohol-loving friend, this seemed like a far stretch.

"Yeah! I mean, it's not something that happens all the time, for all of you guys listening in. But Ruby and I, we were talking after lunch and Coco came up to us and dared me to finish a bottle of leftover vodka then go the whole day without anyone noticing that I was drunk." The blonde's face shone in victory. "And I did it. I earned twenty bucks that day. But I guess I was too good at it if I was convincing enough for Blake to think that I was just being an ass. At least I turned it around."

"Did you do it by turning _her_ around?" leered Neptune.

"No, we are both very classy ladies and our private life will never be left for discussion on the podcast." Yang crossed her arms together in refusal. "Mostly because the last time I went even remotely close to that dangerous territory, Blake nearly skinned me alive after the show."

"Oh, is that the one where you talked about..." Sun began with a small simper. "You know...?"

"No, no, no. Not this again." The blonde shook her head friskily.

"Come on! Our viewers are going to be browsing through the internet anyway because you mentioned it." He gestured to the camera lens, towards the large audience sitting in front of their computers. "It's already out there."

"Yeah! I want to hear this! It's National Honesty Day, remember?" Neptune winked. "Stay true to the holiday, Yang."

"Okay, fine!" puffed Yang, as the shot focused in on her. "Sorry Blake, in advance... But it was...last year or so and we had just begun dating at the time. And during one of our podcasts around Thanksgiving, we had a bit more holiday beer left for us from our sponsors. And I accidentally let it slip that Blake has this weird...habit of doing something right after we finish being intimate together?"

The boys on the couch shared a naughty expression.

"It doesn't get any dirtier than that." Yang scowled. "But anyway, so after we're done, she like, she gets pretty...sleepy? And she kind of curls up beside me and makes this sound."

The blonde moved closer to her mike. Her lips almost touching the surface, she made a deep rumbling sound from the back of her throat.

"...So, she purrs?" Neptune correctly identified the noise. "Like a cat?"

"Yeah! That's exactly what it sounds like."

"Well, that doesn't seem too embarrassing." Jaune appeared strangely disappointed. "I was expecting something much worse."

"Yeah, but for someone as introverted and reserved like Blake?" Sun reasoned over the mixed reactions. "I mean, Blake's a pretty closed-off person, I think. Like, even around friends, she doesn't really talk much? And I feel like she just hates it when people get too close to overstepping boundaries. She's just really...set in that way. I'm not saying she's like this dark, emo chick. Blake's awesome when she's doing the stuff she loves and stuff."

"Yeah, she's pretty cool and laid back," said Yang, approving the relatively accurate description of her girlfriend. "I love you, Blakey."

"Man, if you think about it though. She is a lot like a real cat." Neptune touched his chin, as if he were thinking. "Hey, if we were all animals, what animal do you think we'd be?"

"...I'd say, I would probably be like...a mouse or something," answered Jaune, downsizing his ego as always. "Something small. I feel like Sun could be a monkey because of all the trouble he causes."

"Yang..." Sun tapped his foot for a brief moment. "You would probably be like a lion..."

"Or a dragon."

"A dragon's not an animal."

"Does it matter?"

"I'm just saying, the question that you asked was, if we were _animals_ , what would we be?"

"Who cares? It fits her, doesn't it?"

"You know," Yang drove over the bickering match between her two co-workers. "If someone tells a girl that she resembles a dragon or a lion, I don't know if that's meant to be a compliment or a subtle slap to the face?"

"No, it is a compliment!" Sun stood firm on the matter, wanting very much to be nice and considerate. "It means you're really like brave and shit. If someone needs somebody's ass kicked, you are definitely the friend to call."

"Well, all of you guys had a pretty normal impression on me, I think," said Jaune, going back to the original subject of debate. "I don't remember anyone standing out in particular. I remember my first meeting with Pyrrha really clearly though, because she was on the track team with me and she almost impaled me by accident with a javelin."

"You were on the track team?" Sun questioned right away, unable to picture the young man doing anything athletic during his high school career.

"I was a pretty good runner," he replied in a slightly proud sort of tone.

"Wait, so you two are the only ones here in a relationship right now." Neptune's lips curved into a roguish smile. "And since we're on the topic of honesty, is there anything you would want to change about your partner?"

"I'm not answering that on a live podcast!" Yang was the first to back away from the devil's snare. "There is nothing about Blake I would ever want to change. She is perfect in every way imaginable."

"Seriously? She doesn't have a single flaw?"

"...Okay, there is one thing."

Another burst of laughter filled the studio.

"No! The question you're asking now is different. You asked for a flaw!" argued Yang vehemently. "It's not something I want to change about her, definitely not a deal breaker or anything like that. It's actually kind of cute but uh... Blake is a terrible singer."

"Oh... I think you mentioned this to me before."

"Right! Because it's happened often enough! I mean, she has a beautiful voice. It's pretty chill and mellow. But when she sings...it's like...there is no pitch, no tone. She's basically reciting a really monotone poem. There was this one time when she was taking a shower at my place, and I came in to brush my teeth. And this is exactly what I heard..." Yang took a moment to ready herself. Then, after a few seconds, began to recite in a low robotic monotone. "From shadows, we'll descend upon the world. Take back what you started..."

"Like that...?" Jaune wore a vacant expression. "She sang exactly like that?"

"Yes! That is literally how she sings! And then I whistle the tune back at her, you know, properly. And I go, is this the song you were trying to sing? Then! She goes ahead and gives me this weird look..." The blonde narrowed her eyes, imitating how her lover looked when she was peeved. "As if I'm the weird one! And I'm just _screaming_ internally! Blake, I love you, I really do! But what you do cannot qualify as singing!"

Sun quirked an eyebrow at the girl. "Whatever happened to respecting your girlfriend's privacy?"

"Huh? I- Oh, shit!" The blonde slapped herself, hard, on the forehead. "I did it again!"

"You're definitely not getting lucky tonight." Neptune slipped in a crude comment.

"Yeah, be careful, Yang. Blake might try and fall asleep on top of you." This earned Sun a rather heavy glare from his blue-haired colleague.

"I'm sorry! Some things are just hard to say to your adorable face," Yang cried out, before quickly deciding, "I'll let her come on the next podcast. She probably has a lot of things to say after this one."

Sun chuckled at the blonde's poor solution to making amends. "What about you, Jaune? Anything you want to share?"

"Well, I've got no real complaints either. Pyrrha's pretty awesome. But I guess in our relationship..." The recently engaged man was much more cautious with his choice of words. "There's a lot of moments where it feels like I'm the girl and she's the man? Because she's really decisive on most things. And, as you guys know, I'm pretty wishy-washy in a lot of stuff."

Neptune rolled his eyes at the lame problem. "Okay, but to be fair, that's not a problem with her, that's a problem with you."

"Yeah, well... She is pretty amazing. So, none from me." Jaune took a rather content swig out of his beer.

"What about each other?" Neptune faced the others with a mischievous gleam to his eyes.

"You mean, within our group right now?"

"Yeah. Is there any annoying habit we should point out? Clear it all out today?"

"I am so glad you brought this up." Yang rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, appearing as if she had been waiting her whole life for this moment. "Sun. I hate it when you leave the goddamn lights on everywhere you go."

"Yang, stop turning off the goddamn lights everywhere I go!" He retaliated immediately to the first shot of gunfire aimed at him. "I leave it on for a reason. It's because I'm planning to go back there and I don't want to search for the light switch every goddamn time!"

"Oh really?" droned Yang. "You were planning on returning to that exact same bathroom after two whole hours?"

"At least I don't leave my tuna sandwich in the tiny _, tiny,_ office freezer for two fucking weeks!"

"That was Blake's and you know it!"

"Aw, we're like a loving dysfunctional family," said Neptune as he attempted to distance himself from the fight, after having prompted the war.

"Hey! Don't think you can get away from this so easily." But Sun harshly pulled him back. "You always leave your stupid soda can in the freezer and forget to take it out. Do you realize how hard it is to clean up the mess you make? It's fucking disgusting!"

"...Mine was a honest mistake though."

"It's not a mistake if it happens more than three times!"

"Isn't it about time we wrapped things up?" mentioned Jaune hesitantly. In reply, three heads flipped towards him in anger. "...What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Jaune, you puke every time we travel somewhere," Neptune disclosed bluntly.

"You record some of your serenades to Pyrrha at the studio," snapped Sun with built-up irritation. "And then you make us listen."

Yang tossed her arms out into the air. "You tweet about the most useless things on earth."

"...How come I get three?"

"She's right!" Sun snapped his finger as a light bulb flashed on inside his brain. "Nobody gives a shit about ninety-percent of the stuff you post on Twitter. How do you even have that many followers?"

"What are you talking about?" The blond boy looked slightly hurt. "My posts are interesting."

"Oh, is that how you want to call it? Here, let us show you some proof." Sun was quick to whip out his phone, accessing his Twitter account then opening up Jaune's page of daily posts. "Yesterday at 2:35pm, you posted: I feel like eating some cereal. Then at 2:37pm: I got myself some frosted flakes. Right after that, at 2:41pm, you sent out another fucking tweet: Soggy cereal tastes gross. Who the hell wants to know all of this!"

"Just don't follow him!" Neptune offered the best solution. "I blocked him ages ago."

"Well, I'm sorry if my tweets have been such a major inconvenience for everybody at the company!"

"Guys, this may be the very last podcast we ever take," remarked Neptune in a low, purposefully frightened, voice. "I think some of us may be murdered in our beds tonight."

"That's right," Yang agreed in a dangerously threatening murmur. "I know where you all live."

Jaune rubbed the side of his neck nervously. "I don't think honesty is the right track for us."

"You're right. We should stick with lying and cheating." Sun scoffed, before shifting his tired gaze towards Yang. "So, did we get through everything this time?"

"Uh... All my notes were just the ad reads...and... Nevermind, we were supposed to talk about the next panel today." The blonde glanced at the control room for directions and scratched her head at the sight she saw. "Why is Weiss waving at us?"

"I think she's telling you to put your earpiece back in," Jaune translated, pointing to the audio device left to collect dust.

"Oh! No wonder I wasn't hearing any annoying nagging inside my head." However, instead of placing the technology back inside her ear hole, Yang beckoned for the girl in the control room to come out. Revolving the mike away from her mouth, she shouted, "Hey- Hey, Weiss! Get over here and announce it yourself!"

There were a few muffled shouts and then a loud bang. Promptly, two figures walked onto the screen. One, wearing an over-sized hoodie and jeans, and the other, wearing a prim light-blue dress.

"All right, please introduce yourselves for the people listening to the audio podcast." Yang grinned, as she watched her younger sister and fellow co-worker squeeze into the center of the couch while Sun and Neptune politely scooted over in order to make room.

"Hello, I'm Weiss," said the girl sitting towards the right side of the screen. Her sleek white hair looked remarkable, even under the dim studio lighting. "And I'm one of the creative directors here at the company."

"And I'm Ruby! Also a creative director as well as the community manager." The more petite girl to the left piped happily. "Gosh, this set is too small to fit six people."

"So, you have some news about our next live event?" Sun offered a solid opener.

"Wait a minute! They came on the podcast tonight. I think they should answer a few questions too." There was no murmur of agreement, but there hadn't been any verbal dissent either. Taking in the silence as permission to proceed, Neptune asked, "Weiss, what was your first impression of Ruby?"

Having been watching the podcast be taped from the control room, Weiss was well aware of how careful she had to be with her words if she wished not to be ridiculed. "I believe it was during one of the company meetings and she was presenting one of her ideas for an animated show... She was very...exuberant, to say the least."

"What!" Ruby appeared to be greatly offended. "No way!"

"You are pretty hyper," said Yang as she patted her sibling gently on the shoulder.

"No! I mean, that's not how we first met," Ruby strongly denied, causing a confused expression to emerge upon the other's face. "I totally remember walking out of my office and seeing you. And at the time, I didn't know who you were! So naturally I thought, oh, the boss must have hired a new employee. That's why when you passed by, I waved and said hi, but you totally ignored me and went the opposite direction!"

Weiss let out a sincere frown. "I...don't recall that ever happening."

"It happened!" The youngest girl argued over a few muffled laughs. "My voice went all squeaky, but you still left me hanging!"

"Well, I probably didn't hear you."

"You just told us, in the most convoluted way possible, that Ruby is the noisiest person you've ever met." Sun didn't help much with his added attention to detail.

Unaffected by the jibes, Weiss gave every single one of them a withering glare, as if silently communicating that she had no time for such frivolous nonsense.

"...But since we're running out of time, we can argue about that on a different podcast!" Ruby stated hurriedly, after glancing at both the clock and her partner's expression. "We just wanted to give a short reminder to our viewers. We will be holding another panel, this time in Austen, sometime next month. Tickets go on sale soon on our main website. So, please, come visit us! You'll be able to see me, Weiss, Yang, and Blake there."

"We'll make sure to keep everyone notified beforehand," said Weiss calmly. "As always, our sponsors will get to know in advance through the live podcast. So stay tuned if you want more information on that."

Yang nodded pleasantly. "Thanks for the update guys."

"No problem." The girls then jumped to their feet, pushing the floating mikes out of the way as they maneuvered around the large coffee table in front of the couch. Before she left, Ruby yelled to the figure behind her, "Yang, I'm coming on next week's podcast!"

"I thought you didn't have time?" She called back.

"I'll make it work!" Her sibling shouted, then left the room to attend to another task.

"Well, I think it's about time to end this session," suggested the blonde, uncrossing her legs as she prepared to cue the final credits.

"You still have something left to read, Yang," Weiss swiftly reminded the blonde before walking off from the camera shot for good.

"...Right." The blonde sighed at the placid reminder. Whipping her tablet out again, she said, "Hold on, let me finish this last ad read."

"This podcast is, last but not least, brought to you by Bumbleby. Tired of looking for snacks that not only taste good but also taste healthy? Then why don't you try out our organic products? Bumbleby provides a wholesome collection of food, all of which are made from natural honey that we personally cultivated until perfection. Visit our homepage this month to receive a free package of your own assortment of treats. Use the promotion code YangKicksAss to receive not just one, but two free boxes. That's right. You heard right. _Two_ free boxes. Again, the promo code is YangKicksAss. Make sure to use it so that they know we sent you."

With a relieved exhale of breath, Yang finally collapsed into her seat, looking thoroughly relaxed and finished for the day. "Okay, _now_ we can wrap up."

"I'm starving," Neptune whined as he held his empty stomach. "Do we have any snacks left over from our sponsors?"

"We ate all the ice cream, but we do have some boxes sent by Bumbleby last week." Yang pulled out a few sealed cardboard containers that had been hidden in the shadows of her own sofa. "Here, pass this around the table."

Despite the request, the snack trail stopped at the center of the couch. Neptune, taking the box into his hands gleefully, pulled out several of the unopened packages.

"Thanks for watching. We'll see you guys next week!" Yang waved cheerfully at the main camera.

"Bye!" Sun shouted as he was looking down, tearing at the wrappings of a honey-banana granola bar.

"See ya!" Neptune managed to muffle out, in between the cracks of teeth as his mouth was filled with honey-butter crackers.

"And good night."


	25. Running Back to You (Part 1)

**Title:** Running Back to You

 **Song Prompt:** All This Time by One Republic

 **Genre:** Friendship/Romance/Hurt/Comfort/Modern AU

 **Major Characters:** Blake, Yang, Ruby, Weiss

 **Minor Characters:** Jaune, Sun, Neptune, Velvet

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee, White Rose

 **Synopsis:** There was a reason for the twenties being the worst transitory period of a person's life: the maelstrom of freedom and responsibility; the attainment of new dreams versus the death of old ones; the presence of every kind of love there is - unconditional, everlasting, and at times, unrequited.

* * *

 _"Six on the second hand until new year's resolutions.  
_ _There's just no question what this man should do.  
_ _Take all the time lost, all the days that I cost.  
_ _Take what I took and give it back to you._

 _All this time we were waiting for each other.  
_ _All this time, I was waiting for you.  
_ _We got all these words, can't waste them on another.  
_ _So I'm straight in a straight line, running back to you."_

* * *

Tap-tap-tap.

The tip of her fingers clacked gently away on the keyboard. Blake Belladonna kept her strained eyes flickering back and forth from the computer screen and the scribbled clipboard lying on top of her desk.

A light knocking coming from outside the door broke her concentration for a short moment. Before being able to input another word in, she heard her co-worker's soft-spoken voice enter the room.

"Blake?" A young woman, with chocolate brown hair and a warm smile, asked as she stayed by the foot of the door frame. "Are you nearly done?"

The girl sitting at the desk finally tore her gaze away from the computer. Taking the unexpected interruption as an opportunity to ease her sore muscles, Blake stretched her shoulders in her seat. "Not yet. I've got some more reports to write."

"Still?" Velvet Scarlatina gasped as she fully stepped inside.

"My last appointment took longer than expected. Screaming pet owners. A lot of tears." Blake moaned, rubbing the corner of her lids with her opened palm. "I won't bore you with the details."

"Sounds like you had a rough day," said Velvet in a soothing tone, empathizing with her friend on the overlooked ordeals of a veterinarian. "I can help you finish up, if you'd like?"

"No, it's fine. I'll be done earlier than usual." Blake grinned sincerely. "After all, it is New Year's Eve."

"Oh, good. I was afraid you wouldn't remember." Velvet paused for a short while, tilting her head slightly as she carefully observed her friend's visage. "You do remember, don't you?"

Blake blinked twice, unintentionally inviting a look of blankness onto her facial features. "What are you talking about?"

"New Year's Eve? I was talking to you about this the whole day yesterday?" Despite the subtle reminders, nothing special ran across Blake's mind. The interrogator sighed in a defeated manner, as if she had been predicting this would be happening from the beginning of time. "Your date?"

"Oh." Blake bit down her tongue, keeping a rather calm demeanor despite her friend's accusing stare. "No... I remembered."

"I should have known you would forget." Velvet frowned slightly. "You are going though, right? You already said yes to this the day before. Cancelling now would be terrible. And this guy that I'm setting you up with is really nice."

Blake would have much liked to point out that she hadn't actually said "yes." The word that etched out of her mouth had been a coerced, heavily reluctant "fine." But at the patiently waiting expression on her co-worker, she resisted the urge. So despite herself, she replied back with a fleeting smile. "I can't pull out now, can I?"

"Of course you can." An unconvinced Velvet laughed slightly out of past amusement. "You've done it twice before."

"…Right, well," Blake cleared her throat. "I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen tonight."

Seemingly satisfied with the response, Velvet nodded pleasantly. "Coco will be happy to know that."

Something close to a despondent scoff slipped out of Blake's mouth. Coco Adel, an enthusiastic fashionista and friend to her fellow co-worker, had designated herself as the "selfless cupid" of their social group. After having heard that Blake, who in her own words was "an extremely sexy and well put together woman," had been single ever since her senior year of high school, Coco swore that she would personally take charge of the girl's love life. An abashed Blake did not comply, but that never stopped the former from trying.

"By the way, did you pick out a new roommate yet?" Velvet questioned, conveying a rather apologetic look as she said her next words. "I'm sorry I had to move out on such short notice."

It had already been a month since her co-worker moved out of her apartment complex. Their living arrangement had been mutually beneficial, as they worked at the same hospital, with similar hours and sleeping patterns. But Blake knew that it wouldn't last too long as her friend's long-term relationship with her boyfriend grew serious.

"It's fine." Blake was quick to wave the apology off as she answered. "I haven't found one yet, but I am meeting with someone tomorrow for an interview."

The rent on her apartment was neither too cheap nor expensive. Finding a roommate who was willing to pay the bill wasn't too difficult. The real challenge was differentiating the tolerable from the rowdy. After having a perfect roommate - quiet and relatively introverted - the process of finding her replacement became much more difficult than it had been years ago when she first moved to the city. The girl she would be meeting with tomorrow sounded nice on the phone. Blake hoped that this would be the last interview she would have to conduct. She couldn't afford to delay the task any longer, nor could she allocate more of her time to sit down and talk with passing strangers.

A short melody rang through the air, breaking Blake out of her thoughts. Her colleague rooted through her purse to pull out her phone. After checking her text message, she let out a sheepish grin. "Oh... I think Yatsuhashi's waiting for me outside."

Blake emitted a soft chuckle. "See you on New Year's then."

"You'll be working too?" Velvet asked as she straightened a few stray strands in her hair.

Blake nodded in confirmation. "I'm taking a night shift."

"All right." Velvet placed the phone back into her bag. Turning on her heel, she waved to her friend as she left. "Enjoy your date!"

She waved back while her work partner closed the door behind her. As soon as she heard the clicking sound of the locks closing, Blake relaxed into her seat, allowing the strained smile on her lips to fade away into a lethargic frown.

The girl sighed, knowing too well that with her hazy state of mind, she wouldn't be getting anything done today. She would have to come in earlier tomorrow and resume with the medical notes before her first appointment. After saving her work for the night, Blake pushed the power button on her desktop computer before rising from her uncomfortable five-wheeled chair. Stifling a yawn, she glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall across from her. It was several minutes past six already. Her scheduled date was in approximately thirty minutes. Taking off her white gown, she hung it up on the wall then assessed herself in a long-view mirror.

Checking her reflection wasn't something Blake liked to do often. Not as in a simple glance, but to directly stare and thoroughly observe the creases on her clothing, her black hair that curled slightly at the bottom, and her less-than noticeable make up, simply used to mask a day's worth of exhaustion and the lack of color in her skin. Blake sighed as she combed down her hair with her fingers. Her outfit seemed presentable enough. She was wearing a white blouse and a pair of slim jeans. Not ideal for a first impression, but then again, when was the last time she dressed up to impress a man?

Just as Velvet expected, she had completely forgotten about her blind date for today. Granted, the juncture was sprung onto her quite unexpectedly, only two days ago when she had been sipping on some tea at the employee lounge between breaks. She recalled that the man she was being set up with was twenty seven, two years older than her own age. Velvet hadn't enclosed much about her male acquaintance, except for the fact that he was an even-tempered and well-mannered young man. Those were the exact words quoted by her friend and Blake had attempted hard not to laugh at the description, which made her feel as if she were a single woman living in the nineteenth century being convinced into marriage by a very fretful and worrisome mother.

Blake knew that her friends had her best interests at heart. It didn't make much of a difference though that she wasn't entirely happy about the decisions made for her. In order to dodge any observations of suspicion, Blake obliged on several blind dates prior to this one. Nevertheless, not one of them had engendered successful results. Most of them, the girl managed to swerve out of with "work-related emergencies" or "a mysterious illness" that seemed to only catch her on promised nights. For the minor amount of meetings she actually attended full length, it concluded with no amiable call the following morning.

Though Velvet and Coco frequently expressed their incomprehension on Blake's fruitless situation, the latter knew that the real reason rested deep within her. And she knew very well what the origin of the problem was, the basis behind her irrational behavior during first dates: her frequent vacant stares and her weak smiles that were two centimeters short of becoming grimaces. They did not occur out of random. Blake admitted long ago what it was that caused her to subconsciously sabotage every romantic prospect with another man. But having knowledge wasn't the same as having the courage to do something about it.

However, understanding the trouble Velvet must have went through to get her this date on New Year's Eve, Blake knew better than to pay back the kindness by standing up a poor man at a restaurant somewhere. With that weak resolution in mind, she picked up her coat from the hanger and her bag from the floor, then quickly left the office room. Turning off the lights in the firm, being the last one to leave as usual, she locked the doors behind her before embracing the cold evening air of late December. The restaurant wasn't too far from the clinic. Deciding that she could walk the three blocks, Blake raised the scarf around her neck up to the brink of her nose.

Her heels clanked softly on the pavement floor. Her ears caught onto the lively sounds of an urban city at night. People were rushing in the streets. Some were already drunk and sprawled over the ceiling of parked cars. Blake avoided catching their attention as they shouted incoherent slurs, raising a bottle of rum in one hand and a crinkled party hat in the other. New Year's Eve. One of the biggest party nights of the year. What was it about this day that drove people to such excitement and joy? Blake did not understand. It was just another ordinary day. And next year would be just as ordinary as this one. The only thing that would be changing was the last digit of the year. They would have to get used to writing 2016 instead of 2015 for a few couple of weeks. That was all.

That was all, Blake convinced herself. No big deal.

Nevertheless, persuasion occurred by an insignificant amount.

Because no matter how hard she tried to think otherwise, the ending mark of an old year, the initiation of a fresh batch of three hundred sixty five days - both were very important events. The world was growing a year older. And as it did so, people on earth were forced to reflect upon what they have accomplished so far in life. Blake looked back and saw nothing of significance. She had a stable job. A license to practice veterinary medicine. But all of her achievements seemed to pale, as always, in comparison to the list of objectives she hadn't fulfilled yet. One wish came to mind. The biggest out of the whole lot.

And perhaps, after months of immobility, of emotionally strenuous denial and waning hopes, it wasn't Time that was meant to take another step forward. Perhaps it was her turn.

She was sick and tired of 2015. She needed a fresh start, a pointer to move on from. New Year's was about breaking old habits and changing yourself for the better. After one too many weeks of sleepless nights and pointless dawdling, conceivably, it seemed the best solution would be to move on rather than to prolong the pitiful wait.

Lost in meditation, it wasn't long before her agile footsteps brought her to the front porch of the designated restaurant. The windows were transparent and she could see a couple of customers dining inside. Her gaze drifted among their happy faces. She worried that she had come too early and would have to wait for her male companion to arrive. But then she observed that a young man was sitting alone at one of the tables labelled reserved, twiddling with his thumbs as he nervously looked around the room. It was evidently clear that he was waiting for a date. Drawing in a cautious breath, she pulled open the handle and walked inside.

Blake wondered if Velvet had given her physical description to him beforehand, perhaps even a picture, because as soon as the wind chimes rang in the air, the blond man stood up from his seat and flagged her down rather anxiously. She took several cautious steps towards the table.

"H- Hi!" He said quickly out of visible nervousness then offered her an awkward handshake. "The name's Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"Blake Belladonna," she said in return. His palm was quite sweaty, but she did not withdraw her hand, not wanting to be rude.

"Please, take a seat." He pulled out the chair for her. Blake felt more than uncomfortable, not used to having such menial tasks being done for her. Nonetheless, she sat down noiselessly as the man scurried over back onto his side and plopped down on the wooden chair.

"So..." He clapped his hand together and rubbed them. Sheer awkward silence filled the air. If not for the consistent chatter from neighboring tables, Blake could have sworn she could hear his pounding heart. "Sorry, I'm not really sure how to begin. This is my first time on a date- a _blind_ date."

He was staring at her expectantly and helplessly. At least he was honest, thought Blake as she shot him a weak but empathetic look. "How about we introduce ourselves?"

"Oh! Right. I'm, uh, so I'm Jaune. I'm a photographer. You know, I worked with Coco for a bit, and she told her friend about me, who told you about me. And here we are." He let out a nervous high-pitched laughter then quickly covered it off with an out-of-context cough. "So? Um... What about you?"

"I'm a veterinarian." Blake paused, not knowing what else she could say as the word itself was so self-explanatory. Never before did her job sound so boring as she disclosed it. At his unblinking blue eyes, she added slowly, "I work at a clinic not too far from here."

"...Cool." He scratched the back of his head. "I, uh, I don't really own a pet or anything so...I probably never went there before."

Then the momentary rapport was murdered once again. Blake realized that she was bobbing her head absentmindedly as he glimpsed, once in a while, at her face.

"And... Do you like being a vet?" He made another poor attempt at engaging her. "I'm guessing you enjoy taking care of animals...?"

"I suppose so...? I mean, I connect well with...most animals...though I am a feline specialist." Even she noticed that her words were fading at the end of each her sentences. She mentally chastised herself for being so inexpressive.

"Great" was all he said in response.

He tapped to an invisible beat on the menu left in between them. "... Should we order then?"

"Yes... That seems like a good idea..." She was beginning to mutter when a series of short vibrations ran across her legs. Relieved by the distraction, she pulled out her phone from the front pocket of her pants.

"I'm sorry, let me just..." She politely excused herself as she turned away slightly to check the message being displayed on the lock screen.

 _-_ I hope you enjoy your date tonight, Blakey! _-_

She knew who the message had come from. And for good reason did it hurt Blake that she could recognize the sender right away from the non-consented nickname being used at the end of the text. She didn't like that she read the message in the same exuberant manner the owner of it would have spoken in.

And it became an unpleasant reminder to her. A mental note that as everyone else around her moved forward, as the world relentlessly spun on, she was frozen still.

She thought she could do it, but she couldn't.

It was unbelievable how such a simple statement, a passing remark out of friendly innocence, could cut so deeply, like prickling salts at an opened wound. It was ironic that an affable phrase of encouragement could be so disheartening, draining her of all lingering energy and any speck of resolve she had managed to build up for the past consecutive months.

Blake hated this. She hated herself for not being able to let go. She loathed herself for being neither here nor there, not being able to take the giant leap forward, off the ledge onto uncharted waters, but not being strong enough to resign, to muster up the strength and cut the burdensome ropes of emotions that bound her heart into an unsolvable knot.

"Is something wrong?" Her expression must have betrayed her as the man was peaking nervously at her. At her continued silence, he leaned forward slightly to survey her pallor. His head shone brightly under the dim light. Bright yellow. His hair was the color of the sun.

"I'm sorry," Blake blurted out without further rumination. "I can't do this."

"Huh?"

"Listen... Jaune, was it?" She stared earnestly into his eyes. "I'm sorry that I misled you but... I'm in the process of getting over someone right now..."

"Oh." Then his shoulders slouched significantly, as if he was suddenly relieved of elongated tension. "Thank god. Because I didn't want to go through with this either."

"You- You what?"

"No! It's not that I don't like you or anything! You're really attractive!" He shook his hands in a wild motion, mistaking her confusion for personal offense. "It's just that... I didn't feel much of a...connection with you? It's kind of like- Do you believe in destiny?"

"No," she answered curtly, not being able to hide the traces of painful realism.

"Well, don't laugh, but I've always been a big romanticist," he explained in a dream-like sequence. "And I don't know... I feel like when I meet _the one,_ I'll know right away. It shouldn't have to feel this forced, right?"

She decided against going over his words with her own twisted grasp on romance. Instead she watched in utter quietude as he rubbed the side of his neck, seeming easily resigned as he nodded understandingly towards the ground. As if he was slightly embarrassed of what he divulged, he attempted to change the subject. "So... Break up, huh? That's got to be tough..."

"Not exactly." He threw her another quizzical glance. Blake took a short intake of breath before trying to explain her situation without revealing too much information, in case any of her words reached Coco or Velvet's ears. "You see, this person doesn't exactly know...how I feel."

"Ah..." His throat made a deep resonating sound of sympathy. He swallowed as he digested the news, as if he was perfectly familiar with the sentiment she was feeling at the moment.

"I just..." She expanded in order to achieve full closure. "It's something that I started by myself and I need to end it by myself."

"No, no, I understand." He let out a light chuckle, as his eyes seemed to be gazing far off into the distance. "I know how it feels, not being able to get over someone. It took me a pretty long time getting over this girl I had a crush on in high school."

She winced at the man's honesty, which possibly made her feel even more horrible inside. "I'm really sorry about this."

"It's fine!" He shook his head fervently. "It's totally fine."

"...Right." She sighed. He was grinning at her now, a faint glimmer of cheering on his visage. Blake understood that he was genuinely a kind person. It was a shame that she was already in love with someone else.

"Happy New Year, Jaune," said Blake quietly as she rose from the chair, the surface of which was still cold.

"Happy New Year."

* * *

Yang Xiao Long was always either one of two things. She was either the center of attention at a party or she was the one responsible for the party. On New Year's Eve - the greatest night of celebration, dancing, and binge drinking - the boisterous blonde was proud to be hosting a small but successful gathering at her own apartment suite.

Music rang loudly into her ears as people went in and out of the unlocked front door. Chips and dip at one end, with a huge bowl of spiked punch at the other, everyone seemed to be having a remarkable time. Many familiar faces, of neighbors, friends, and acquaintances, were standing in huddled crowds.

"Yang. We're running out of tequila already." A young man, with strikingly blue hair approached her as he slurred. His breath already smelled of strong alcohol.

She cocked an unkind eyebrow at him. "Did you drink all of it?"

"No!" He denied quite adamantly as he wobbled on his two feet. "Of course not!"

"Sun. You're in charge of cleaning up the mess if he pukes." Yang pointed at the man standing to her left - tall, blond, and built- as she grabbed a set of keys from the top kitchen drawer.

"Aw, come on." Sun Wukong complained as he took a quick swig from his red plastic cup. "I came here to have fun, not babysit!"

"Then you shouldn't have brought Neptune." She grinned broadly as the man set down his drink on the center counter to glare at his inebriated choice of companion.

Walking out of her own complex, she stepped towards the room number marked four, which was merely ten feet away from the opening of her own home. Taking the chain of keys into her hands, she fumbled around them, inspecting each one of them until she could identify the right one.

"I need to throw some of these away," grumbled Yang to herself as she tried out her initial guess and found that the key didn't fit inside the hole.

However, before she could try another one, this time a thin silver one with two holes driven at the top, an exhausted voice called out to her from beyond the chipped paint.

"It's opened," said a female from inside the room. Yang stepped back for a moment, startled by the unexpected presence inside what she believed to have been an empty apartment. But she soon recognized the familiar bleakness in the voice; and so Yang, almost instantaneously, turned the knob and barged in. The lights were turned off, but as she suspected a recognizable silhouette of a young woman was lying on the living room couch, a round pillow placed underneath her head, jet black hair flowing down the leather sides of the sofa. Blake looked up from where she rested and Yang flinched slightly as wide amber eyes eerily stared at her through the shadows. Reaching for the light switch, she caused her best friend to hiss, much like a disturbed cat, as she forcibly illuminated the room.

"Blake! What are you doing alone in the dark?" Yang inquired as she approached the girl, walking inside the room so comfortably that bystanders could believe the two shared conjoined suites.

"I was sleeping" was the answer she received, which the blonde highly doubted was the truth, considering that her friend appeared to be fully dressed and alert.

"How come you're back so early?" Yang pondered out loud. "What happened to your date?"

Casting the cushion aside onto the carpeted floor, Blake grunted as she sat up into an horizontal position. "I went."

Yang allowed a moment of silence to pass before prodding the girl further on. "And...?"

"And I left."

"Again? Geez, Blake. This is like the third one you've skipped out on." The blonde noticed how still her friend became at her remark, but she continued on with the playful teasing. "How mad do you think Coco will be on the scale of one to ten?"

"A ten." The tiniest smirk appeared on the other's lips.

"You know, if you don't like Coco's tastes in men, you could always ask me." Yang pointed at herself with a confident backwards thumb. "I've got bunch of friends who would be dying to spend the night with you."

"…It's fine." The answer was close to a whisper. "Really. I just... I don't need anybody else in my life right now."

"Well, since you blew off your date again, why don't you come across the hall?" She offered in hopes of an opportunity to diffuse the unexpectedly sullen mood. "Sun and Neptune's over there right now, mixing some margaritas. The party's already started. There's music...and food...and dancing?"

Her voice decreased in volume with each addition of category, having noticed the disinterested expression on her friend's face. A party. With a sea of people, loud music, and an exorbitant amount of alcohol; All three of which were ideas so far apart from Blake's normal picture of an ideal Thursday evening. Perhaps this was why Yang was closer to shocked than happy when Blake accepted her offer with a cursory nod.

"Seriously?" The blonde gawked at her friend who was grabbing a black hoodie from the closet to wear.

"Dead serious."

Yang gaped at her friend, waiting for any hints that would let her know that Blake was kidding. But her friend's countenance remained as stony as it had been when she first walked in. The shadow cast on her face made it appear as if she were marching into her grave rather than a party. There was something different about her friend, especially in the manner in which she stood. There was an air of defeat to it. Subtle yet worrisome.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to." Yang frowned in concern. "I'm not forcing you."

"I want to go," replied Blake with the same impassive expression.

"...Is something bothering you?" The blonde knew that her friend had a habit of clamming up until, inevitably, the spotlight was taken away from her. "Come on, Blake. You can tell me anything."

"I just had a rough day at work," she stated, but the rumbling storm in her amber eyes told Yang that this was not the truth.

No, the blonde thought, job-related problems were different. Her friend complained about work. She muttered dark things under her breath whenever she was forced to take extra shifts as a favor to another co-worker or when she had more medical reports to write out by the end of the day. There was the signature expression of irritation Blake wore whenever she returned home after having to handle a dog instead of a cat because all the canine specialists were too busy. There were even moments of earth-shuddering anger when she met with patients who were particularly ignorant and abusive to their pets.

Having spent too many years together with Blake, from college and beyond, Yang knew there was only one other category that could be troubling the girl at the present time.

"Why not just tell Coco you're not interested next time?" Her friend went rigid, alerting Yang that she had made the correct conjecture.

"It's not that I'm not interested in dating," Blake began to say stiffly. "I just... He wasn't the right person."

"Are you sure there isn't a different reason?" She presented a coy smile. "A secret boyfriend I should know about?"

"…No. Nothing like that."

"Maybe a crush then?" This time, a lascivious wink.

"Stop."

"All right, all right." The blonde was prepared to drop it after the biting snap, but not before she got the final say in the matter. "But I've got my eyes on you, Belladonna. I'll know when something's up."

She opened up the front door of the apartment, as she made the "I'm watching you" gesture with her two fingers.

"Oh please, Yang." Blake murmured under her breath as she followed the blonde out. "You don't know me at all."

The last words came out in a wistful fashion. Yet, as carefully stealthy as the girl was, it went unnoticed in the air.

* * *

Ruby Rose got off from the metro, running across the crowded terminal in impressive speed. Super powers were granted to humans during moments of great peril. And this was certainly one of them, as she was already two hours late to the party she was supposed to be attending.

Her pace quickened even more as she flew up the flight of stairs. Exiting from the underground platform, she turned sharply around a lamp post. Luckily, her apartment was only a few blocks down from the train station.

Her cell phone buzzed loudly in her coat pocket, the jolly rock and roll ringtone discouraging the girl from picking up immediately. Not bothering to check who the call had been coming from, Ruby answered.

"Hey, Ruby! Are you almost home yet?"

"I just left the station!" She replied enthusiastically. "How's the party going? Having fun without me?"

"Of course not! Not without my baby sis." Hearty laughter was heard from the other line. "Actually, I'm at the store right now because we ran out of alcohol. There's one hell of a line, though."

"The liquor store?" Ruby recalled that the shop was situated a block away from their suite. "Oh! Then I'll meet you there! Wait for me at the-"

And that was when she lost her balance.

Being her clumsy, unobservant self as usual, Ruby had slammed into something hard and solid left unattended on the curb. Ruby tripped over onto the ground, much like how she would have fell after being tackled by a dashing football player.

Landing quite painfully on her rear, Ruby rubbed her right knee, the spot where she had first made contact with the obstacle. Hissing in pain, the petite girl glanced sideways and realized that she hadn't rammed into a person, but an enormous metal suitcase, which now lay tilted on the ground.

"What are you doing?" A piqued voice lashed at her from above.

"I'm so sorry!" Ruby apologized hurriedly, grabbing the rectangular object and setting it correctly onto its wheels. "I was in a hurry and I wasn't looking where I was going!"

When she finally stood up, she noticed a hardened glare being bestowed upon her. The owner of the luggage was about her same height, ensuring that the pair of incensed electric blue eyes was leveled right at her.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going next time instead of looking at your phone?" The girl continued on in a critical tone, lifting her chin slightly in indignation.

But Ruby wasn't listening at all. She was distracted, to say the least, by the alarming color of white on the girl's head. For a moment, Ruby thought that it had started to snow without her noticing.

White. Pure white as snow. It was an unforgettable sight, and it took only one second of bearing witness to it for Ruby to be reminded of an equally vivid first impression she had experienced in the past. Equal in degree, because this wasn't a stranger standing before her at all.

"Weiss?" The girl blinked twice before frowning at the sudden addressing of her name. "Weiss Schnee?"

No verbal response was produced, but Ruby did receive another odd look.

"It's me! Ruby Rose? From Beacon High?" She smiled wildly as memories came pouring inside her like fresh oxygen. "I was in your class during senior year, remember?"

"Oh." The hostility decreased to a certain amount, replaced by reluctant recognition. Uncrossing her arms, the girl let her left hand shift onto her hip and her other hand to grab onto the strap of her shoulder bag. "Yes, I remember. Hello, Ruby. It's good to see you again."

The greeting was emotionless and generic. Ruby's smile faltered. Had she left such a little impact on the girl that after years of attending the same school as each other, she was merely acknowledged as a distant acquaintance than a friend?

"Uh... How have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!" She started again awkwardly, taking every second to observe the young woman and be delighted with the fact that much of the girl remained the same: her tight ponytail, her pressed lips that made it seem like she was in constant disapproval of something, and the formal, prim dialect in which she spoke. Nothing less to expect from the heiress to the third largest and richest company in the country.

"I've been rather busy," she stated shortly.

"Yeah... That's cool." Ruby laughed nervously. "You've always been uh...busier than others, I guess. But you should call me sometime! It'd be nice to catch up!"

Eager to reconnect with an old friend, she dug into her pocket and tried to find her cell. "Huh... Actually... I can't really find my phone right now..."

Weiss, raising her thin eyebrows in mild disbelief, lifted a single finger to point at the mobile lying flat on the dirty pavement.

"Oh!" Ruby bent over and quickly picked it up. The screen hadn't cracked but the call she was having with her sister had disconnected minutes ago. Looking up at the heiress once again, she flashed a warm smile. "Thanks!"

Lopsided silence filled their vicinity. Ruby, unsure of what action to take next, stood fidgeting with the phone in her hands. Crowds of people moved busily on the streets as the two stood silently by the edge of the road. The petite girl considered shoving the phone towards the heiress's nose, asking her to input her digits into the device.

On the other hand, she didn't want to appear too eager or forceful. So, in conclusion, Ruby did nothing else but stare on in relentless patience. The heiress returned the silver orbs with an expression of increased annoyance, then finally, resignation.

"Here." The heiress, as sophisticated and business-like as she had been several years ago, pulled out a laminated business card from her purse. "Perhaps lunch wouldn't be so bad."

"Yeah! Great! I'll uh- I'll give you a call!" Ruby took the piece of paper with unrestrained glee. "Or if you're not busy right now, there's a big party my sister is holding up at our apartment? But, um, who am I kidding, you've got a big suitcase and you're all dressed up. You're obviously going somewhere so... Nevermind. I'll just call you!"

For a moment, Ruby waited for an agonizing three seconds, hoping that every bit of word she sprouted in a rush had been received. Fortunately, the girl before her gave a curt nod, before gripping hard onto the handle of her suitcase, implying that she would much like to be on her way now.

"Okay then! I'll see you...when I see you! Bye!" She stayed waving as the heiress simply pulled her suitcase behind her as she walked off in the opposite direction.

After a short consideration, the petite girl also yelled out in the middle of the streets: "Happy New Year's Eve!"

Weiss did not look back, but there had been a minuscule pause in her graceful steps.

"Real smooth, Ruby," she muttered to herself. "Real smooth."


	26. Running Back to You (Part 2)

Sun stood by the tall cabinets, peacefully sipping on his cup of punch after having managed to tie Neptune down to the round kitchen table. Of course it hadn't been in the literal sense, as much as he would have liked to do so. Fortunately, the blue-haired boy was resting his chin on the table, blowing invisible puffs of air towards his own bangs, looking incredibly bored and single.

Diverting his gaze elsewhere, Sun turned in perfect time to see the front door open once again. He wondered if Yang had successfully pilfered a night's worth of liquor in such a short period of time. Instead, someone much more calm and clearheaded walked into the site of festivity.

"Blake?" He blinked, pleasantly surprised by the figure who had walked into the room. The call was drowned in the sea of noise; nonetheless, she was quick to spot the duo from across the crowded scene. Quickening her pace as she swerved around a group of strangers, she approached the wooden table.

"Hey," she said briefly before taking the seat in front of Neptune.

"Hey, welcome to the party!" Neptune, after raising his head from the surface of the table, smiled stupidly at the girl.

Sun double-checked his watch, making sure that he was seeing the time right. "It's almost forty minutes 'till midnight and you're here for a New Year's Eve party?"

She countered with a very cool glance. "Is that wrong?"

"It's not wrong," retorted Sun playfully. "I'm just shocked that Yang manages to drag you out every single year."

"She didn't _drag_ me out." Blake's cheeks turned a bit pink, but she brushed off his comment quite quickly in her usual defensive manner. "What if I'm ready for a change?"

"Fine by me." He grinned in return. "You want a drink?"

"Is there any left?" The girl arched an eyebrow at the empty bowl of punch on the counter behind them.

Sun rolled his eyes as he passed her a red plastic cup from the cupboards. "There's plenty of soda in the fridge."

"What?!"

The two jumped slightly, jerking their necks toward Neptune who had cut into the conversation with a ridiculously mortified tone. "You don't come to a New Year's Eve party and not drink!"

Out of thin air, he produced a rectangular bottle of half-filled tequila. Thumping it down loudly onto the space in between them, he flashed a rather devilish smile. "Here's how you get caught up."

"Were you hiding that under your coat?" Blake, instead of listening to his words, indicted. "Yang left to get more alcohol because of you."

"Like I always say, the more the merrier." Neptune slurred as he popped the lid open. Leaning back on his chair, he directed his outstretched hand towards the serving counter. Nearly falling out of his seat in the process, the man picked out a clean liquor glass. Settling it before him, he grabbed the tequila bottle and poured the shot to the brim. But instead of draining it himself, out of unnecessary compassion, he pushed it towards the female while carelessly spilling a few drops on the oak.

"Well?" Neptune blinked expectantly at the girl. "What are you waiting for?"

Sun laughed at the bemused expression on his friend's face. Saving her the trouble of saying no, he opened his mouth. "Blake is _not_ going to do a shot."

"It's just one drink," argued Neptune stubbornly as he tapped on the table. "What's the harm in that?"

"Um..." She frowned. "Sorry, I don't think so. Maybe next time."

"Come on, Blake!" He complained loudly. "You think too much. This is the last day of 2015. Don't you want to let all the bad things go and embrace the new year as a completely different person? Empty everything out? The good and the bad?"

"She never tried tequila before," Sun reminded him, frankly speaking out of worry for his female friend. "She won't like it."

"How will you know if you never try?" It was a fair point, and if the phrase hadn't been enough to alter Blake's attitude on the matter, his subsequent statement certainly did so.

"Pretty please?" He begged like a petulant child. "Yang's not going all out tonight and it's no fun getting drunk with a dude."

Blake shifted uncomfortably in the chair, wondering in a low murmur, "Why isn't Yang drinking tonight?"

"Apparently she's meeting somebody for lunch tomorrow and she needs to be sober for it." Neptune's face transformed into that of a wily fox. "I'm willing to bet that it's a date."

Sun simply dismissed his friend's remark with the wave of his hand, but his smile did flicker at the sight of Blake, who had consequently stopped breathing at the man's proclamation. Chuckling nervously, he placed a surreptitious hand of support on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure it's nothing serious."

Naturally, the gesture went unnoticed to Neptune. But Blake hadn't been attentive enough to discern it either. There was a short awkward pause as Sun kept his out-of-context hand in position, waiting for the girl's next reaction. And as if possessed by an unseen entity, the latter lifted the glass up to her chin and began to carefully observe the drink from every possible angle.

"Uh... Blake?" The blond boy started to ask, although the answer was already quite obvious. "What are you doing?"

"I think I'm taking a shot." Though her amber eyes were glistening in mild enlightenment, there was still a spot of uncertainty remaining in her words.

His pupils widened slightly in panic. "But- But you don't drink!"

"...Sun, there is a bottle of wine that I got as a present eight years ago that I still haven't opened," she began to speak in an oddly contained tone. "It's there. It's tempting. Once in a while, I even imagine what it would be like to rip open the cork and pour myself a glass. But it's always that first step I can never get around to doing... If I can't have that, maybe I should take this. It's new. It's fresh. It's the next best alternative."

He processed the meaning behind the carefully composed anecdote. Sun assumed the worst as he spoke in an equally strained manner. "You know... That wine's probably gone bad by now."

"It's metaphorical." She took in a heavy breath of air. "The drink is symbolic."

"Symbolic of what?"

Sun was glad that she hadn't responded to him, as he had already deciphered the code in the past. With a sick sense of longing, he simply watched as Blake finally moved the shot onto her lips and washed it down her throat. She cringed, coughing erratically as she set it down, wearing an expression that made it appear as if she had just experienced the vilest, most disgusting, taste in the whole world.

He gawked down at the girl sitting before him. Meanwhile, Neptune - who had been spacing out during the course of the story - was reeled back to life. Whistling as he did so, he took the empty glass and poured it to the top once more.

"I don't think this is a good idea..." But it seemed like not even the strongest being on earth could stop the girl now.

Resolved to burn the night, Blake grabbed the drink with her right hand. And without gaining assistance from any chasers, she swished down her second shot.

"Wow." At the sight of her, Neptune wore a greatly awe-struck visage. Jaws hanging open, he marveled, "I am so attracted to you right now."

"Why thank you." She grinned, an odd mist beginning to haze over her look of bright intelligence. "At least somebody thinks so."

It was strange, watching the power of alcohol slowly change a person, witnessing the maddening effects of it surface so rapidly.

"Blake, you're _really_ going to regret taking- And... There you go again." He scratched the back of his head in concerned frustration as the girl voluntarily poured the third shot and drained it without prior warning. "Should I have stopped this?"

"No! Of course not!" Neptune shook his head angrily at the blond before returning to his spirited persona. "Blake. You are about to embark on a whole new journey with me!"

He took the tequila bottle and finished whatever remained inside of it. "Just let it all go!"

"I'm letting go." She murmured it like a cult chant. "I am letting go."

"Repeat after me." Neptune cleared his throat eagerly while raising his left hand into the air. "I, Blake."

Much to Sun's chagrin, the girl went along with the blind oath, placing her fingers above her beating heart as she repeated. "I, Blake."

"Vow not to think for the rest of the evening," the man enunciated clearly, poorly imitating the demeanor of a life coach.

"Vow not to think for the rest of the evening." Blake followed him along nonetheless.

"Or else I will be forced to kiss Sun at midnight."

"Or else I will be forced to..." An unexpected hit of vertigo attacked her mid-sentence. Shaking her head, she squinted through her blurred sense of vision. There was a low groan coming from her side that went ignored.

"To... Um...?" A circuit broke inside her brain: What was she talking about again?

* * *

"Ruby! Over here!" Yang waved eagerly as she finally spotted the familiar reddish black color of her sister's hair in the distance. "What took you so long?"

"Got everything?" Jogging forward, Ruby asked after surveying the large plastic bag being hugged tightly between the blonde's arms and her chest.

"Yeah, but it's almost midnight! We should hurry. No way in hell am I missing the big countdown," she replied in an aggravated growl as they walked quickly down the livened streets. "I swear, next time we have a party, we are not inviting Neptune."

"That's fair." Ruby giggled then skipped a step as she jumped with sudden excitement. "Oh, hey! Guess who I ran into on the way here?"

"I don't know, who?" Yang said offhandedly as they went towards the numbered street of their apartment complex.

But Ruby would have none of that; demanding the blonde's undivided attention, the younger girl began to pout, as she requested once again with greater energy, "I said _guess_."

"Uh..." The blonde racked her brains for a moment, conjuring up a short list of possibilities. "That old guy with the mustache who lives in the subway?"

"Nope."

"Your old history professor who lives around the block?"

"Nope."

"…God?"

"Oh, forget it." Her sibling rolled her eyes in response. Unable to contain her overflowing glee any longer, Ruby finally blurted out, "I ran into Weiss Schnee!"

It was a rather comical moment as the younger girl had thrust out her hands in sheer excitement while the older sister kept her neutral, if not, flummoxed expression.

"...Who's that?"

The lack of reaction had been an obvious mistake. Her family member, appearing quite scandalized, stopped dead in her tracks. Looking at the blonde, as if she had grown two heads, Ruby chirped on in equal fervor. "Weiss! Weiss Schnee! You know her. She was in my class during high school?"

"High school..." It had already been several years since her sister attended Beacon Academy. Yang, though believing that it was ridiculous for her sister to assume that everyone's memory could date back to such a time period with pristine detail, she did not voice her thoughts. Instead, she allowed Ruby to simmer for another few seconds of probing silence.

"…You met her at my graduation ceremony, remember?" hinted Ruby at the blonde's continuously blank stare.

"Is she the one who nearly broke my arm when I shook hands with her?" tried Yang, being able to vaguely picture someone with big green eyes, short red hair, and a bow.

"No, that was Penny," Ruby corrected her sister's faulty memory as the blonde had been thinking about a different old classmate.

"...Is she the one who cried during your Valedictorian speech?" She asked her second question with increased uncertainty, realizing just how incompetent she was at guessing games.

"That was also Penny." Ruby huffed with greater impatience. "Come on! You definitely saw her before. Blue eyes? Pale skin?"

"Well, that makes it a lot easier," said Yang with heavy sarcasm. "Narrow it down to another five billion why don't you?"

"White hair!" Ruby tossed the last piece of bone for the blonde to grab a hold of. "She had silky white hair."

Finally, a blurry image of a girl with a high ponytail and an emotionless countenance crisscrossed into her mind. Feeling confident about her guess this time, Yang posed for the final confirmation. "Are you talking about that rich heiress?"

"Yes! That's the one. Sheesh, took you long enough." And with the right answer, they were finally allowed to recommence the walk in shorter, but quicker, steps.

"Well, it's not my fault." Yang defended herself as she tossed the younger girl a teasing smirk. "I wasn't the one who had a crush on her, remember?"

"I didn't have a crush on Weiss Schnee," returned Ruby, a few of her syllables popping out in a much higher pitch.

"You're right. I'm sorry, you were completely infatuated with the girl," Yang altered the choice of her words, which earned her an embarrassed kick to the shins as they reached the front entrance of their apartment complex.

"I was- I wasn't _in love_ with Weiss Schnee!" Her sister yelped once again, crossing her arms and desperately controlling the blush forming on her cheeks, as they climbed up the stone stairway.

Rubbing the bruising side of her leg, as well as laughing at Ruby's irked expression from her choice of vocabulary, Yang quipped on, "Then why are you saying her name like that? Like... _Weiss Schnee_."

Now, even the blonde was forced to impersonate her younger sibling and enunciate the name, especially the surname, in a sleek, though a lot more breathy, tone.

"Because it's a...a pretty name to say," argued Ruby, donning a tomato-red face of denial.

"Mhm." Yang readjusted the weight in her arms as her sister opened the doors for them to walk through. Passing by the empty mailbox, she queried with piqued curiosity, "So? What happened next?"

"We didn't talk much because she seemed busy. She gave me her number though!" Ruby squealed, not needing to try hard to sound very optimistic and hopeful. Pulling out the piece of paper she had been carefully pocketing in her coat, she moved it into the blonde's field of vision.

"You got her digits too?" Yang squinted down at the business card, observing it and reading it out slowly: "The Schnee Dust Company... Weiss Schnee... Project Manager."

Ruby simply beamed, appearing as if suddenly being a project manager meant that you had the coolest job in the entire world. Grinning slightly at her sister's ignited enthusiasm, the blonde offered the following course of action, "Well, what are you waiting for then? Call her."

"What? I'm not going to call her right now!" Ruby quickly hid the card back into the inner folding of her coat, perhaps believing that by removing it from the blonde's view, it would effectively shut her sister up. "That would seem way too eager!"

"I think it's a little too late to worry about that if you picked up her number off the streets." Yang let out a hearty guffaw, not meaning to offend her younger sibling, as she absentmindedly reminded the other on how sometimes strangers mistook her hyperactivity for moderate insanity.

"Oh..." Ruby grew slightly quiet, remembering the prospect of having made a fool of herself already. Dropping the smiles immediately, Yang carefully observed her sister as they moved down the hallway, hearing the echoes of human voices and music from majority of the rooms they passed by. "Do you think I'm overreacting?"

"No! Come on, she gave you her number, which... yeah, it could mean a lot of different things," the blonde worked to fix the mood. "But does it matter? Just grab a cup of coffee with her! Catch up, get nostalgic about high school and how you guys barely even spoke to each other... Then get the girl nice and drunk and see if she comes onto you!"

"I'm sure there are better ways of finding out if she's interested other than using Neptune's method of seduction?" Ruby laughed at the poor solution given towards the end. "Fine. I'll leave a message at her office tomorrow."

"She's not going to be working on New Year's Day!" Yang scoffed. "That's a sacred holiday. You have to call her _cell_ number."

"Okay, okay." Her sister grinned while practicing a reassured nod. "I'll do that."

A few steps before reaching their own suite, which was easily the loudest out of all of them, Yang stopped her feet and flipped her long hair towards the room standing several meters away from them. "Oh, and I almost forgot. Could you get us some ice? We're running low on that too. Blake says she keeps her plastic bags in the bottom left drawer."

Ruby looked slightly surprised at the request, but it had altogether been a response to the beginning portion of the speech. "Is Blake at the party? I thought she had a date tonight?"

"Well, that doesn't matter." The blonde brushed it off, not wanting to make a big deal out of the matter in respect to her friend's privacy. "I wanted her to be here anyway."

"All right then." Her sister wore a small understanding smile as she pulled back to turn the handle of their neighbor's front entrance. "I'll be right back!"

Concomitantly, Yang turned the knob of their own apartment share, grooving her head to the rhythm of music trickling out through the side corners of the wooden edges. As soon as she went inside, she had not expected to nearly walk into Sun, who had shot forward towards the door after seeing it open from across the room.

"Hey." The blonde greeted his nervousness with mild confusion. "What's up?"

Sun scratched the back of his head and stood rather tall in his shoes, trying his best to hide something behind his broad shoulders. "We may have a slight problem..."

"Uh oh." Yang smirked, not taking the boy's words to heart. Setting down the heavy bottles of liquor onto the ground, she questioned, "What did you break this time?"

"Well...?"

Instead of answering, he simply let out a sigh then moved out of the blonde's way. Yang frowned, not understanding the full meaning of the gesture until she turned her head away from him to stare at the kitchen table located a few feet away from where she stood. There were two people slouching on top of its surface. It was the figure on the left that caught her attention. Black hair tangled back in a mess, Blake was leaning on the stand, with both elbows propped on top, her right hand holding up her drooping chin. She was slumping down, her body so incredibly relaxed that she appeared almost limp. Mouth open ajar, Yang approached her friend, who coincidentally moved her gaze in time to see the blonde advance.

"Ya-a-ang!" The possessor of the name realized what it was that made her right eye twitch. It had been the excessive amount of joy ringing at the end of Blake's normally neutral voice. Not to mention the fact that the girl was speaking at least two octaves higher from the tone that she usually conversed it. However, appearing too immersed in her own world to notice the properties of shock on the blonde's visage, Blake simply grinned like a fool. "Welcome home!"

It seemed as though what had been broken was a bottle of tequila...along with her friend's sanity. The tell-tale signs were obvious to read.

"I leave for thirty minutes and _this_ happens?" Aghast, Yang threw a sideways glare at Sun. "Which idiot gave her a drink?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Sun scoffed as he pointed his left forefinger down at Neptune. The proponent of the problem was sleeping rather peacefully on the kitchen table, drooling out the corner of his mouth like a content puppy.

"How much did she drink?" Yang inquired as she attempted to stir Blake out of her stupor by snapping her fingers, as the girl had been staring in great depression at the empty shot glass remaining in her hands.

"Triple shots." Sun took a step back at the blonde's steely glare. "I know, I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have let her. But she was pretty upset, okay?"

With the last statement, Yang thought she saw Sun growl at her in blame, yet the emotion was quick to pass as Neptune gave out a long, deep moan.

"Is he all right?" She wondered, still feeling concern for her idiotic blue-haired friend.

"He's down," the standing man noted as he poked his unconscious companion and received no physical response. "And it looks like he won't be waking up for a while."

"Okay. We need to clear the table." Yang sighed, assessing the fragments of broken glass shards on the wooden surface - objects that should not be in such close vicinity of two utterly drunk morons. "Can you move Neptune to my room for now? We'll grab a cab for you guys later."

"Got it." Sun nodded then grabbed Neptune into a hold of no mercy.

"Ladies..." muttered the wasted man under his breath. "Hands above the waist..."

Yang watched as the two men slouched off into the crowd as several people moved out of the way, laughing at Neptune's unconscious form as he was dragged out of the party. Then she pivoted back towards her friend who was now gazing up at her while banging her head from side to side, trying her best to keep it afloat as she stared.

The blonde had to admit that her friend became utterly adorable once drunk. And her intoxicated charades were precious enough to record with a camera, especially since the occasions were as rare as Ruby not having her daily dosage of sugar in the morning. Nevertheless, the situation today seemed much worse than previous references of comparison. And possibly, at the current moment, it wasn't the fact that Blake _was_ drunk that bothered the blonde. It was why.

"I have to say, of all the crazy things that happen on New Year's Eve, you being drunk is the _last_ thing I expected to see."

"I'm not drunk." The girl grunted a reply; she attempted to cross her legs in annoyance but instead ended up toppling off the chair onto the hard kitchen tile. Yang raised an eyebrow at the lack of physical composure. Instead of being embarrassed, as she normally would be, Blake glared up at the blonde in a strangely defiant manner, mumbling the sentence: "Still not drunk."

"Of course you're not. You're Blake, the _responsible_ one." Yang emphasized her tone of utmost sarcasm with air quotes. "You don't tell anyone if something's bothering you. Instead, you consult a bottle of tequila."

The blonde didn't even know why she was becoming so worked up. She assumed that it was a twisted form of concern escaping her. "You can't even finish a bottle of beer by yourself. What the hell were you thinking, taking shots with Neptune? Did you want to kill yourself?"

Yang had common sense; she knew that three shots weren't enough for her friend to be diagnosed with alcohol poisoning. Nevertheless, she knew that pouring down a sudden load of tequila couldn't be good for the girl's health, especially since she was unused to such extravagant drinking experiences. The rebuking had the effect that the blonde aimed for, as the girl plumped on the floor started to sulk. Though the blonde realized soon enough that her words seemed to be producing a much stronger impact than anticipated as the sulk soon turned into a disheartened frown, then the frown morphed into a look of absolute pain.

"What's wrong? Do you feel sick?" Blake said nothing, continuing to appear disconsolate despite the blonde's softening scowl.

"Let's move you somewhere more comfortable. How does the couch sound?" suggested Yang kindly as she tried holding the girl up by the arm. Nevertheless, she did not budge.

"I don't want to." Using an impressive show of forelimb maneuvers, Blake swiveled her arm out of the blonde's grip. She began to mutter short sentences under her breath, but with her head titled towards the ground and hair flowing down the sides of her cheeks, it was difficult to hear exactly what it was that she was saying. Endeavoring for the second time, Yang bent over and lifted the girl up by hugging her waist. Instead, it resulted in Blake squirming underneath her arms, repeating an odd, frightened phrase from the back of her throat.

"I'm scared."

Yang paused for a moment, retracting her hold temporarily to stare confusingly at her friend. "Of what? Of the soft fabric?"

The blonde believed it to be a rather funny joke, but there was no riposte to the quip. Suddenly worried that the girl on the floor was inebriated to the point that she no longer understood the basics of human language, Yang crouched down to gain a leveled look at her.

"Blake?" She talked in a gentle yet chastising voice, like a teacher would to a kindergartner who recently ate through a box of crayons.

"I'm scared of you." The blonde wished that the girl hadn't been so coherent that time; the raw emotion of such fear and distress was too explicit for Yang to pass by with humor.

Rubbing the sides of her friend's arms in comfort, she asked in the most non-threatening voice possible. "Why are you scared of me...?"

"...of what you'll think..." Blake seemed to be grasping for words. "...when I tell you..."

"What?" The response was silly, thought the blonde. Grabbing the girl gently by the shoulders, Yang forced the girl to face her directly. "You're my best friend. You know you can tell me anything. Why would something like that bother you?"

Amber eyes widened in reply then grew a bit misty, as if holding back a line of impending tears. "But that's the problem…"

"Just tell me... What is it?"

"Well, I wanted to say..." Narrow eyebrows scrunched together in futile concentration. "Nothing. I remember nothing."

Then Blake offered her the most stupid smile she had ever seen in her life. Mood swings were scary symptoms to deal with. "But...! I do see three of you! The more the merrier, right?"

"Is she doing any better?" A male voice spoke over the crowd as Sun emerged back at their sides.

"Sun, please pull your shirt down." Blake stated, in a matter of straightforwardness that convinced Sun for a moment, until she broke out into a fit of unexpected giggles.

"I'll take that as a no," he mumbled, but did as he was told, flattening down the front of his shirt that had been ruffled by a rowdy Neptune in his sleep. "Why is she on the floor?"

"Because she's being impossible." Yang fussed like a frustrated mother. "Okay, you hold her up by the right arm and I'll hold her by the left."

He nodded obediently and bent down to follow through with the orders. With relative ease, he managed to curve his arms around the girl's sides. Meanwhile, Yang unsuccessfully ventured to mimic the motion. However, Blake appeared to be much more resistant towards the blonde's touch. And before Yang could yell at her in exasperation, the girl pointed to something in the distance, her loopy pupils focusing on a small emerging figure. "Ruby!"

"Hi, Blake!" Ruby answered as she walked into the kitchen, carrying a few plastic bags full of ice in her hands. She was about to set the merchandise upon the table when she saw the broken alcohol bottle, the disapproving expression on her sister's features, and - most of all - a much too happy veterinarian sitting on the ground. "Uh...? What's going on here?"

"Welcome home!" Yang resisted a face-palm as Blake outstretched her arms widely, waiting for the younger girl to fall into her embrace.

"Oh, awesome!" Assessing the situation right away, Ruby shoved the bags of ice into the blonde's arms and dove onto the floor to hug her inebriated neighbor. "I love drunk Blake!"

"No!" The blonde hated to be the voice of reason in the group, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Tossing the heaps of ice into the top freezer, Yang growled. "We do not love drunk Blake. We are getting drunk Blake back to her apartment."

"Aw, come on, Yang! It's almost midnight! Let her loose for once." Ruby, breaking apart from the tight embrace, pleaded with her sister, making perfect usage of her puppy dog eyes. The blonde almost appeared reproachful at this comment. But before the older sibling could retaliate, the volume surrounding their ears grew even louder. The sober individuals in the kitchen turned their heads across the counters to watch the party guests whistle and cheer. A few were holding up their glasses, empty or filled, into the air. Their eyes were fixed on the large television screen, the tower of Times Square was being broadcast live, glowing and bustling in anticipation.

The countdown had begun.

"TEN...NINE...EIGHT...!"

Ruby joined in right away, elbow-punching Sun in the gut, forcing him to rally as well (though he kept a wary glance on Blake).

"I remember what I wanted to say." Yang turned her head back towards her friend at the abrupt confession. She wondered how she was able to hear the girl over the ruckus. Not too long after, she realized it had been because Blake was leaning in towards her left ear. A lone shiver ran down her spine. There was a titillating murmur. "I love you, Yang."

"Yeah, I love you too, Blake," said the blonde automatically, squirming slightly due to the ticklish breathing on the side of her neck. "Now, let's get you off the floor. Don't you want to see the countdown?"

"...SEVEN...SIX...FIVE...FOUR...!"

"No… I like, really, _really_ love you." It was impossible to look back at the television now. Thoughts evaporated, along with every drop of moisture inside her mouth, as Blake said the aforementioned words in a low, enticing voice.

"You are so drunk," the blonde managed to finally say, grinning nervously at the girl. People around them were chanting down the numbers at the top of their lungs, but everything that was being screamed was perceived as muffled and insignificant. And in comparison, each syllable elicited by Blake was strangely audible.

The veterinarian frowned in a perplexed manner, observing the blonde like a medical case she hadn't quite figured out yet. Then there was a bit of an electric shock as their skin made contact. Blake had taken both arms and locked them around her neck, intertwining her fingers together in a tight lock so that the grip would hold without any interruption. Leaning her face in even closer, she asked in a maddening whisper, "Does that make me a liar?"

Yang was ready to speak, speak up at the sudden, irrational, prickly, sensitive, delicate, embarrassing, not to mention _intimate_ , position the girl was forcing her to partake in. But then, for an inconspicuous period of a single heartbeat, she was distracted by the swirls and flecks of golden brown in her almond eyes, overall a dark yet luminous, mesmerizing hue.

"THREE...TWO...ONE...!"

Then the obsessional inquiry shifted towards the eyes; her friend's lashes, long and perfect in every single way with a tiny amount of makeup and light purplish shadow to decorate the area above them. She wasn't sure why Blake was beginning to close her eyes. Why the hell was she closing her eyes? And if the blonde truly believed she could figure it out on her own, she would be terribly wrong. Because the definite response Yang was presented with was one that she couldn't possibly have predicted during the brief period of three seconds.

A nonstandard answer: something soft quivered against her lips. Something warm and moist. The closeness of its surface smelling of alcohol, if alcohol was as sweet as perfume.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

It lasted only a second; Yang pulled away, knowing very well that whatever it was that was happening had to be stopped immediately.

Among the screams, the yelling, the howling, the wolf-calls, the silence of chaos remained tied to the four individuals staying aligned to the kitchen counter.

The one responsible for the turmoil hadn't moved a single inch, blinking innocently as she remained on the tiled floor, not fully aware of what she had done, what stunt she had just pulled. She couldn't possibly interpret the vivid emotions in the blonde's eyes as panic, akin to fear itself, nor could she be alert to Ruby's dumbfounded expression and Sun's dangerously calm one.

"See?" She was pink in the face, but still wore the same goofy smile. "Not lying."

* * *

This was unlike any movie she had seen so far, thought Ruby. But then again, nothing ever happened like it did on the film sets of Hollywood. There was never any background music left playing, certainly not one befitting every romantic mood that can be created in spur of the moment. Serendipitous encounters, where a man sees a beautiful woman across the ballroom and is immediately struck with the idea of destiny and true love, were more or less rare. Nor were there any buildups of beautiful suspense to fated meetings at the top of the Empire State Building. Sometimes, if not most times, real life merely consisted of the following qualities: awkwardness, tension, and even more sheer awkwardness.

Apprehension gripped the whole lot as all traces of levity vanished in an instant.

"Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea," muttered Ruby.

Blake didn't give the others much time to recover as she slumped even further onto the ground, massaging her temples in pain. A moment of clarity may have been present as she groaned. "I don't feel so good..."

Sun, unable to take any more of this, scooped her up bridal style. And without another word, except for a dark glance towards the blonde's direction, he strode out towards the front door. Yang was the one to remain on the floor now, having been dragged down for one unanticipated, alcohol induced, kiss.

"Did she um... Did she...?" The blonde mumbled incoherently, lightly grazing the edge of her lips with the tip of fingers.

Ruby contemplated on saying something to her sister, but at the moment, it appeared as if she would need a pick and a chisel to break apart the plaster of ice the blonde had placed upon herself. Forcing herself to return to earth, she spoke in a gentle, hopefully pacifying manner, "We'll talk about this later, okay sis?"

Yang didn't even nod, but there had been a strange emanation of noise from her throat that Ruby decided to translate as understanding.

"I'm going to go check on Blake." She paused then added as an afterthought, "Just... Stay here."

This seemed to be the safest course of action to take and thankfully the blonde complied rather willingly.

Though still troubled, the younger sister exhaled deeply before rushing out of the crowded room, through the opened entry of the suite located across the hall. The door situated at the right had also been left opened. Ruby ran into it quickly and found Blake lying on the mattress of her bed as a young blond man struggled to keep her still.

"It's okay, Sun," she said whilst stepping forward. "I've got her now."

"But-"

"I'll take care of this," stated the girl quite adamantly, cutting over the man's protests. "Blake wouldn't want people to see her like this."

"I've taken care of her before," he insisted stubbornly.

"You know what I mean," returned Ruby, desiring to stand her ground despite her friend's urges. "This is different."

After being met with an earnest round of entreating, Sun - very reluctantly - removed his hand from the wrinkled sheets.

"I'll be back tomorrow then," he asserted, similar in manner of announcing a preemptive strike.

"Remember to pick up Neptune on your way back." The only acknowledgment given to the reminder was a noncommittal grunt.

When the exit was politely closed, and she was left alone with the intoxicated patient, Ruby finally let out a deep sigh. Blake was lying on the bed, tangled around in her blanket, still fully dressed and unwashed. The veterinarian seemed to be on the verge of sleep, mumbling slightly as she rubbed the right side of her face on the soft white fabric.

The central sections of her cheeks, a lovely shade of puce. However, pressing in closer to survey the woman's profile had been a horrible mistake. As soon as she got too close, Ruby immediately felt a strong set of arms lunge forward and pull her by the neck.

"Yang..." Blake said, softly and longingly. Something about the way the embrace was being dealt with made Ruby suddenly fear for her life.

"Not Yang! Not Yang! Definitely not Yang!" Ruby squawked repeatedly. As much as she was fond of her apartment neighbor, it didn't mean that she was mentally ready for such a heated smooching session. Wiggling her way free, she gasped involuntarily for air, experiencing a rather unpleasant déjà vu from each time she nearly died of suffocation from one of her sister's lethal hugs.

There was a small knock on the door after a short session of calming down. The sound startled Ruby; after all, knocking was an uncommon practice in her household, mostly because they were a group of individuals with no respect for personal boundaries. Frowning slightly, Ruby told the visitor to come in. The wooden opening remained stationary for another few seconds of preparation, then a familiar mane of curly gold hair was seen through the side.

Yang merely tilted her body inside the room, not daring to enter completely. Carrying a medium-sized cleaning bucket in her hands, she set it down on the floor of the bedroom.

"In case... You know... She throws up," the blonde finished lamely, then before Ruby could say anything else, she quickly fled out of the way.

Hoping that this was a sign meaning that everything would be - or could be - fixed the following morning, Ruby returned back to the task at hand. Blake was now lying on her stomach, her legs and shoes dangling off the bottom corners of the bed.

Struggling to pry the ankle boots off the girl's feet, Ruby yelped as she was nearly kicked in the face by the girl's surprisingly intact reflexes.

"Would you…stop…being…difficult!" She fell onto her back for the second time that evening as the older girl on the bed squirmed and thrashed so hard, she was sent swinging off from the mattress.

"Geez, Blake." Ruby blew several rogue strands of hair out of her face. "I think this is the only time I'll ever get to say this to you but… You're a mess."

The girl purred into her pillow in oblivious content.


	27. Running Back to You (Part 3)

Thirst. Thirst had become such a prominent issue, she was woken up by the unpleasant desert forming in her own throat. Alcohol had never been Blake's trusty companion and if she didn't drink enough to remember why it was so, the throbbing migraine she was currently suffering from certainly did. It was hard to focus on anything else but the discomfort of her own body, but eventually the veterinarian became conscious enough to peer up at the bland ceiling of her bedroom, causing her to wonder how on earth she made it back to her own apartment suite. The last thing she recalled was downing her third shot of tequila in the presence of Sun and Neptune, neither of whom were present at the moment.

Groaning, Blake rose from her covers, forcefully holding up her head with her bare hands as the world spun around her in a merciless manner. The girl caught a glimpse of herself from the dresser mirror; she was still dressed in yesterday's clothing, though everything about her appearance seemed more ruffled and disheveled from the night before. Her shoes were thrown astray across the room, and her hoodie was still tangled in the mess of her bed, which she most likely pulled off herself during the period of slumber.

Yesterday's courage had died off long ago. The girl named it bravery now, but she may as well just called it stupidity. Attempting three consecutive shots was one of the most foolish decisions she had made in a while, except the act of falling in love with her best friend. But then again, argued Blake, that last one hadn't been by choice.

Heaving down several coughs, Blake's ears twitched as they caught onto an indistinct murmuring from a close distance. She paused, still remaining seated on the foot of her bed, glancing around the room, scanning the walls, for the source. Then she heard it again - a human voice. The kitchen was humming with the soft susurrus of conversation.

"...still sleeping the last time I checked..."

It was female, and the veterinarian thought that the pitch sounded a lot like Ruby.

Blake frowned, wondering if she had heard correctly, as the following few seconds were filled with an unsettling silence. Standing up from the mattress, the girl walked forward and placed her hand over the handle of her bedroom door. She was ready to turn it when the talking commenced again.

"...Good. Let this be a nice lesson for her." The tone of mixed gaiety undoubtedly belonged to Yang. "She needs years of experience to get to Neptune's level."

Although Blake had given up on her friends understanding the concept of an "emergency spare key," it did not necessarily mean that she awoke each morning expecting to find the siblings roaming around freely in her living room.

Curious, the veterinarian found herself pressing an ear against the wooden door, holding her breath as if afraid that she would make a noticeable peep. How strange it was to feel like the intruder of her home.

"Look, I know that last night was a bit of a... an awkward situation," tiptoed Ruby in a delicate fashion. "And there may or may not have been a kiss that ended up with you floored and Blake passed out on her bed... But that doesn't mean you should start freaking out, okay?"

"What is this? Previously on Blake and Yang?" There was a small emission of laughter that the younger sister did not join in on. "And I am _not_ freaking out. I just realized that Blake gets a little more comfortable with people when she's had tequila. We learn new things everyday! This is good. I think I'm going to start making a list. So far, we know that cocktails make her act French and a bottle of Sherry makes her act like a cat. Now we know that tequila shots make Blake kiss her friends."

This must have been a sick joke, thought the subject of the story. The blonde, no matter how bad her sense of humor was or how crude she was capable of being, couldn't possibly be suggesting that Blake had the audacity to brush her own lips against another's. Unless-

Instinctively, she felt her body grow involuntarily hot as the surface of her lips quivered in blissful recollection. Notwithstanding the short-lived happiness, a convulsion of dread pulsed through her veins.

"Yang, um... Although there is a possibility that this was all just a drunken mistake... There's a possibility that it wasn't. Did you ever think about that?"

"I don't think I want to think about that..." mumbled the blonde.

"...Did you hate it that much...?" It was a careful inquiry, soft and gentle. But Blake couldn't help but detect a sense of personal hurt.

"Of course I didn't hate it!" Yang shouted hurriedly and defensively. "And you know I don't have a problem with... with _that_ , Ruby."

"...I know." Next came a resolved sort of sigh. "Well, I think I'm going to go clean up the apartment. From what you told me, our place is a dump right now."

Blake forced herself to stop listening any further. She realized that if she didn't have the courage to make an entrance now, she may be stuck inside her room for the rest of her life. With an immense sense of foreboding, she opened the door and was immediately met with two widened pairs of eyes, one silver and the other a mesmerizing hue of lilac.

"I can help!" Yang yelped, jumping down from the kitchen counter.

"No! It's fine!" It was barely noticeable but Blake could have sworn that Ruby stomped on her sister's right foot, immobilizing the blonde. Acting like she hadn't done so, Ruby turned a nervous yet innocent eye towards the vet. "Uh, morning, Blake! I was just going to go clean up our apartment. It's a mess over there because of the party. But um... There's some hangover soup in the fridge for you! Sun brought some over. He wanted to make sure you felt better and... uh... Yeah! He wanted to make sure you felt better..."

Ruby whirled around on her stool, turning on Blake, to mouth two silent words at her sister: "Stay. Talk."

The blonde appeared too shocked to retort.

"Anyways!" Ruby continued in a strangely high-pitched voice. Treading the floor as though it was glass, the girl began to back away slowly towards the exit. "Try to feel better soon and I'll see you later!"

Without offering any opportunities for interruptions, the younger girl rushed out the room, closing the door, albeit not gently, on her way out.

It took an excruciatingly tense minute for the silence to be broken.

"Hey!" Yang scratched the back of her head, unintentionally showing off her long mane of golden hair. Smiling awkwardly, she asked, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah..." Blake grinned despite herself, not certain if the girl's overly skittish behavior was a good sign. "I slept fine."

"Tea?" The blonde held up a stout mug from the counter and passed it forward. "Ruby made you some. In case you wanted to detox."

"Thanks," she said while accepting the kind offer. There was a small green tea packet placed inside the pool of hot water. She sipped on it and felt the herbal taste spread inside her mouth, scalding her throat and coating her tongue with bitterness.

"So..." Yang began to speak with a sheepish grin. "Are we going to talk about what you did last night or...?"

A twinge of pain occurred inside her. It was evident that her friend wanted to keep the atmosphere light and fluffy. Being serious just wasn't for Yang. Nevertheless, Blake didn't think it justified the blonde's attempt to deal with the matter like she would a joke.

Or perhaps, in context, the tone of levity held a much more significant purpose. Possibly, this was her last given chance at the fire escape. Yang was willing to let this go as a night of craze where Blake had momentarily lost her inhibition, a night that would be remembered as a hilarious anecdote in the future. The outcome solely depended on the decision she made now.

But Blake knew better than to take the prior course of action. The shield of her own cowardice was beginning to crack. If wielded any longer, she was afraid the already weakened armor would collapse on top of her.

She forced herself to calm, to detach herself from overwhelming emotions, in order to take on the attitude of utmost solemness. With an anxious shudder, she began: "Yang. I think you deserve to hear the truth. And I would appreciate it if you didn't talk until I finished...because once I start... I won't be able to stop."

"...All right," replied the blonde rather calmly.

Blake was relieved that she had exposed her worst whilst drunk. At any rate, it made voicing the truth much easier when sober.

"Do you remember when I first started working at the clinic?" Yang soundlessly nodded, though looking confused. Blake cringed at her own memory, silently communicating to her friend that there was indeed a point to her recounting. "This is something I never mentioned to you before...but I came very close to quitting once."

The left side of Yang's face twitched but otherwise the blonde successfully hid the elements of surprise from her visage.

"During my period of internship I was already beginning to wonder if I had pursued the right career path." Blake swallowed a hard gathering of saliva. "But when I was officially hired by the clinic, that doubt grew even more."

"My very first client...brought in a dog. A two-year old black rottweiler," she continued to breathe her sentences in abridged gaps. "Her pet had contracted a terminal disease. He was acting violent, aggressive... but most of all, he was in pain. But the owner... She wanted me to save him no matter what. And even when the chances dropped from slim to none, she wanted to keep him alive as long as we could, because she wanted to give him a chance to fight for his own life."

The blonde's countenance turned incredibly empathetic, as her family currently cherished a pet corgi. She waited in grim anticipation as Blake managed to compose her next words.

"We kept him under morphine... Then he finally passed after a week."

For a split second, Blake's expression of nervousness morphed into one of pain.

"I know that every job has its perks and its downfalls, and I knew that as a veterinarian, I would be exposed to a lot ethical problems..." said Blake quietly. "But I never realized how different real life was until that moment. I never thought about how stressful it would be to deal with...death on a daily basis."

"It was frustrating because I didn't have an answer to follow. Was it right for me to allow him to struggle...over my personal desire to preserve life... when I had the ability to end his suffering?" The once striking amber irises were suddenly a dull gray. "I wanted to quit. After years of medical training and studying for that one lousy veterinary license... I wanted to give up."

Yang appeared to be struggling to keep her hands still, resisting the urge to pull her friend into a crushingly tight embrace.

"I didn't leave the clinic that night. You called me over the phone, two hours after midnight, asking why I wasn't home yet." Blake finally broke the connection with her shoes to stare into the blonde's glowing eyes. "I said nothing over the phone. Nothing that could have possibly meant that I wasn't okay. But you didn't have to hear me say it. You came anyway."

This part of the story allowed the girl to produce the tiniest of smiles. "We didn't talk on the drive back. Even though you knew something was wrong, you didn't pry. We walked up to our apartment doors, and before we parted, all you did was give me a hug."

A fleeting sensation of fuzziness filled her inner sides. "And at that moment... I felt something I haven't felt for a long time. Or something so good, I never thought I would be lucky enough to have."

An odd sort of look was surfacing onto Yang's face. Quickly, Blake glanced away, focusing on the rim of her tea cup as she forced herself to persist. "But I was in a bad place. I was vulnerable. So my brain made sense of it in the only way it knew how. A fluke. A side effect of stress. For months I forced myself to believe that what I was beginning to feel around you...was just a result of a strong friendship. But my brain began to see that everything I had been feeling wasn't natural at all."

Unintentionally, she found herself reverting to the tone of pain.

"Yang... What happened yesterday was... It wasn't an accident. I mean, the...kiss...was an accident." She still couldn't bring herself to say that particular word at a normal volume. "And I'm really sorry about that. But it wasn't- It didn't happen just because I was drunk."

After a prolonged interval of reflection, the right words finally welled up inside her.

"I think I'm in love with you."

There was always a voice inside her head, informing her that this was futile. For once, she didn't abide to its wishes.

"You make life worth living for," uttered Blake with growing ease. "Everything mundane and boring becomes exciting with you. And everything uncertain...doesn't seem to matter anymore. Because I feel like I can find the answers when I'm with you."

Then the silence returned.

"Yang?" A sharp pain in her throat partially stifled the call. "You can say something now."

The blonde never missed out an occasion for self-expression. But even Yang seemed too shell-shocked to vocalize a single syllable of her thoughts, if thoughts were even being processed through the girl's hectic brain. The veterinarian would have killed for even a minute showcase of wit.

"Please don't make me repeat that again," said Blake weakly, registering just how scared she was of silence.

Yang's mouth dropped open, then sewn itself back up again; the cycle repeated for several more trials until a hoarse voice finally escaped out of the blonde's throat. "Hold on. I- I need a moment to think."

She struggled to come across the right phrase, peering around the room in search for helpful indicators that could be found on walls. "Blake. I'm really flattered but... This is wrong- I'm not sure if..."

Her breath hitched in an uneasy manner, desperately trying not to offend anyone.

"It's not... I just- We're friends." Yang finally stated. "It would be wrong. I can't... I don't think I'm ready to be in that kind of relationship with you... I'm sorry."

There it was again. That word. Wrong.

"Don't apologize," replied Blake feebly. "It's not your fault."

"But I-"

"It's fine," she cut through, in an uncharacteristically biting way. "Just forget I even mentioned it."

She had expected this; in every scenario she imagined, not one of them had been a happy ending. But the darkness dwelling in her own mind was nothing in comparison to the crushing weights of reality.

The sensation was ineffable. The only feeling close to it was suffocation. It grew steadily inside, a hunk of lead emerging in the center of her chest. Ironically, with each breath of oxygen taken, it became harder to breathe. Her throat thickened, the contents of yesterday's meal threatening to spill out. Then suddenly, the choking amplified, seizing the heart, ceasing the function of every blood vessel in her body. Her limbs were heavy, something burned inside, and she was caught in an abrupt maddening urge to tear the ball of grief out of her lungs with her bare finger nails - if she could, if only she could.

"...We can still be friends... Right?" Yang asked quietly. If one listened carefully, it was nearly a plea. "Blake...?"

"Yes, of course." The neutrality in her voice scared her. It was empty, lifeless, even to her own ears.

Yang didn't respond, perhaps understanding what the true underlying answer was.

The tension in Blake's muscles drained in that instant, out of fatigue, of sorrow, and the warmth disappeared. She was left to stand cold, shivering suddenly in a heated room with a steaming cup of tea in her hands. Suddenly everything was different. Suddenly...

"You should go." Her tone was disconnected, reflecting none of the demons swarming inside. Like a robot, she spoke, "I have to get dressed."

"...What?"

"Work," she lied. "I have to go to work."

"Oh." The blonde sounded as if she had something to say. But then, audibly swallowing whatever her next words would have been, she simply nodded in weak compliance. "Okay then. I'll...see you later."

Blake was sure that Yang hadn't meant this to be a question, though she couldn't help the way she interpreted the world now. She could only read the blonde's glum expression as one of disgust, the motion of the door closing as one of total rejection. She heard her upstairs neighbors' laughter trickle through the walls; it felt directed at her and she had no idea why.

Leaving the tea to turn lukewarm, Blake sprinted towards the bathroom and emptied the remaining contents out of her stomach.

The acidic smell stung her nose; she stubbornly insisted that the mist forming around her eyes was merely a result of forceful vomiting, a product of nothing else, certainly not her emotions.

Thinking became tortuous. Her thoughts were too dangerous to be left on her own. But she was motivated to act upon no other desire than the one to be alone.

* * *

The streets of Brooklyn were unfamiliar to her. The neighborhood, unclean and foreign in every manner. It was an absolute carnage with bottles of liquor and scatters of litter on the bleak pavements. As she effectively maneuvered around the pieces of wrappers and traces of pigeon droppings, Weiss hoped for dear life that this wasn't how the area always looked, scrutinizing the locale with an eye of unusual toleration as yesterday had been New Year's Eve.

Fortunately, the people on the streets appeared more or less sober, although there were a few anomalies passed out in shady alleyways. The heiress quickened her pace as she went by them. The air before noon was still chilly. She cursed herself for not wearing thicker layers.

In her hand, she clutched tightly onto a tiny slip of paper where she had written down an address and appointment date. Unfolding the light blue sheet of notepad, she looked over her own printing for the fifth time that morning, glancing between it and the avenue number. After several minutes of ceaseless walking, it seemed as though she had finally narrowed her search.

Weiss gaped up at the apartment building. She had to admit, the place appeared worse on the website. Taking an odd amount of comfort with that information, she pulled along a large metal suitcase behind her in great discomfort. There was nobody around to provide her with any assistance. Frustrated, and unused to such a taxing situation, the heiress grabbed her luggage by both of its side handles, gritted her teeth, and began to storm up the stairway that led up to the front doors.

She counted ten steps before being able to loudly thump her luggage down onto solid ground. Putting the suitcase back onto its wheels, she carefully fixed her hair until perfection before continuing on the path that led into the four story apartment.

The lobby was lifeless and sparse; there was a row of brown sofa seats aligned to the left wall. At the far end of the foyer was a large section of nailed mailboxes.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked around and located the intercom panel. It stood alone on the right hand corner pillar. Weiss was well aware that she was here six minutes earlier than her appointed schedule, but she didn't wish to waste another day's worth of money on a rundown hotel room with an uncomfortable bedspread. And so without additional pondering, she ran her fingers down the line of buttons and pressed on one that read the number fourteen. She imagined there to be a buzz, though no noise reached her own ears. The contraption was stiff and hard, demonstrating that it wasn't used very often.

It took a moment for a response, but once there was one, it was a weary female voice that answered: "...Who is it?"

"My name is Weiss Schnee," she enunciated clearly, as she could not identify a proper microphone. "We spoke over the phone. I'm here to talk to you about the room availability?"

The hazy connection dropped into total silence. Then there was a bit of rustling.

"Um... Right. Come on up," was the slightly hesitant consent. To her ears, it sounded like the resident had forgotten about their previous date. Weiss grunted in mild disapproval at the lack of responsibility, but nonetheless turned to the stairway situated to her right side. Considering that her destination was located on the second floor, she could have taken the stairs. But her heavy luggage screamed against it. To her greatest relief, she found two elevators centered at the edge of a separate corridor.

Riding up one floor, she saw that the halls were quite sanitary for an average human being to live in. Stepping only a few steps forward, she identified an entry with the numbers one and four carved into it.

With confidence, she knocked exactly three times on the door before taking a step backwards, waiting patiently until the present tenant finally opened it.

A lean young woman stood at the passage frame, her appearance matching the bleak tone that ran through the intercom. Wearing a softly ironed shirt, the resident of the room was dressed modestly yet not modestly. The sleeveless white top was cropped more deeply at the front, rising slightly above the waist to reveal small sections of her flat stomach. On the bottom she wore a regular pair of black track pants with a thin line of white running down both sides in a simple pattern, a fit that perfectly complemented the slight curves of her hips and the pair of long legs standing on wedged boots.

However, as visually pleasing as the woman may have been, nothing escaped the shrewdness of Weiss's eye. The tenant's hair was messy, tangled into rough curls at the ends. There were traces of makeup, but just barely in the form of lazy mascara and eye shadow. She observed that the corner whites of the woman's eyes were slightly bloodshot, indicating that she had either been crying or she had been drinking the night before. The heiress went ahead and safely assumed that the girl was hungover.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Weiss raised an eyebrow as she asked this, noting that the young woman who greeted her was dazed and zoned out.

"No, not at all," the girl shook her head in a lethargic fashion. Then she opened the door more widely and moved aside. "Please. Come in."

The place was, of course, much smaller than the heiress was used to. She counted three more doors, each of them placed in different directions in relation to the joint kitchen slash living room. Though tiny, the interior was simple and tasteful. Decorated in shades of black and beige, the suite created a very urban yet cozy atmosphere.

"I'm sorry," apologized the tenant from behind. "To be honest, I forgot about our meeting."

At least the girl was honest, thought Weiss. She turned around to face the woman with a tense smile, cutting quite close to the bare requirement needed to appear polite and hospitable. "It's fine. Blake Belladonna, was it?"

Weiss offered a firm, but brief, handshake, which the girl took in slight wonder. "There's no need to be so formal... You can just call me Blake."

"All right then, Blake," returned the heiress. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." The veterinarian nodded stiffly, then proceeded to clear her throat. "Let me give you a short tour."

Pointing to the corresponding room as she did so, the tenant listed: "Here's the kitchen and the living room. Over there is the bathroom. My room is over there on the right hand side... And this is the room open for rent."

Blake gestured to the room on the farthest left, linked to side wall of the kitchen.

"May I?" Weiss asked for proper consent before reaching out for the handle and peaking into the empty room. Beige, closer to gray, wallpaper shrouded all four sides of the room. There was a reasonably large window at the back wall. It was spacious, but only because it barely contained objects inside.

"I realize that the ad for the room said it was partially furnished, but it's really just a bed and a dresser," Blake explained. "They're what my old roommate left behind when she moved in with her boyfriend."

She simply bobbed her head in nonverbal understanding. The resident of the apartment didn't say much after that. Despite the place being less than extravagant, it was a reasonable place to live for an affordable price, reasoned Weiss with herself. On an even more positive note, the heiress reckoned there wouldn't be much problems regarding noise if she moved in, especially since her potential roommate seemed quite incapable of saying more than two sentences at a time.

"It's nice," Weiss finally commented plainly. Hiding a sense of nervousness underneath a mask of remarkable indifference, she continued to say, "If you don't mind me being direct, I am very interested in this room. Do you have a number of offers already or can we start discussing the matter of the lease?"

Blake wore an expression of mixed surprise and disbelief. Weiss frowned as well, accepting the fact that she was being hasty. The heiress didn't mind, so long as she didn't come off as desperate.

"No, I don't have too many offers." The tenant narrowed her eyes in justifiable suspicion. "And I'm glad that you're interested in staying, but don't you need some more time to decide?"

Little did Blake know, there wasn't much to contemplate over. The rent was cheaper here, relative to several other places she had looked at yesterday and the day before that. Her roommate would be dull, but civil. Weiss didn't think there would be more options granted to her better than this current one.

"I've already done my share of searching," retorted Weiss simply. "Over the phone, you said that a cash deposit for the first month was a requirement?"

"...Yes?"

"In here, you'll find the exact amount," stated Weiss as she handed over a sealed envelope containing a wad of fifty-dollar bills, freshly withdrawn from a nearby bank machine.

"Hold on." The tenant raised a halting hand in the air. Her face was screwed up in concentration, trying hard to think clearly while suffering from a terrible migraine. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you a few questions before we sign on anything."

"Go ahead," said Weiss curtly, temporarily dropping the envelope of money back into her bag.

"...Questions. I had them printed out..." mumbled the girl as she suddenly began to search around the apartment space, uplifting several piles of books and stapled stacks of paper on a large coffee table. "I apologize... I'm not usually this disorganized."

"Take your time," said Weiss, as if she was generous enough to overlook the other's mess. "After all, yesterday was New Year's Eve."

"Don't remind me," muttered Blake, in an unforeseen sullen tone. Eventually, she gave up on locating the interview slip. Seemingly working from memory, the girl crossed her arms as she asked, "Um... Do you smoke?"

"No. And I'm not on any kind of medication or drug," reported Weiss, right off the bat. "Nor do I drink."

The heiress wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting. For some deranged reason, she found herself waiting for the tenant to disclose an unpleasant truth about herself in return. An alcohol problem, for instance. Nothing of the sort happened, however, as Blake simply nodded appreciatively and drew her gaze elsewhere, conjuring the next inquiry: "Okay... Do you enjoy having friends over?"

"Not at all." Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Checking off items on an invisible list, Blake continued: "Any pets?"

"Definitely not."

"Do you work from home?"

Weiss stood still for a moment, feeling physical impact from the inquiry. She retracted herself from the conversation, the experience suddenly feeling like a cold shower. In an noticeable manner, she began to rock back and forth, suffering from a dilemma caught between her pride and the truth.

"...I'm not working right now," confessed Weiss eventually, trying hard to keep a calm, unruffled exterior. The answer didn't offend the tenant personally but there was a flash of minimal concern reflected in Blake's eyes that Weiss knew wouldn't work to her advantage. Clearing her throat, the heiress quickly continued. "Now, I realize that I have no references from past landlords or roommates, and that's because I've never lived under a joint lease before. But here are copies of my old credit reports and my previous business cards."

She pulled out a bigger yellow envelope than before, full of necessary information about herself, then submitted it to Blake, who was observing her with an exhausted yet curious gaze.

"I will be relocating to a different job quite soon. Until then, my savings account will be more than enough to pay the bills on time for the first several months. If you don't believe me, I would be willing to pay up to three months worth of a security deposit."

Weiss had no intention of defending her honor to a greater extent than the one she had already taken. However, she did inwardly congratulate herself on her habit of being overly prepared. She acceded to waiting as the tenant sluggishly opened up the top flap and started to peruse through the official documents.

The heiress would have guessed that Blake was, perhaps, impressed - if the girl in front of her was even capable of producing other expressions than an impassive frown. "And how long do you plan on staying?"

"For quite some time," replied Weiss, then realizing that the answer would be too vague for the woman's liking, added, "Hopefully for more than a year."

"Okay. Well..." There was a small sigh of relief, indicating to the heiress that she wasn't the only one feeling glad that the interrogation was almost over. "Do you have questions to ask me?"

Weiss paused in careful meditation. The advertisement that the girl had uploaded was pretty much self-explanatory: quiet, reserved, and working for most parts of the day. So far, Blake didn't give reasons for the heiress to think otherwise.

"I'd like to move in right away," she instead stated.

"...Excuse me?"

Weiss realized that this wasn't a question per se. It was much too forceful to be mistaken as an asking for permission. But if there was one thing she learned from her father, it was to always be self-assertive, no matter how improbable the request may be. Power was everything; the only way to compensate for the lack of any would be to at least uphold the illusion of one.

"If you must know, I've already moved out of my previous residence," she carried on primly. "And I've brought all of my belongings with me this morning."

She pointed to her suit case while Blake looked to be at a loss of words.

"...I'd appreciate it if you didn't stare at me like that." Weiss stated with disdainful emphasis on the final word. "I _am_ in my right mind, just simply in a hurry. Now, do I have your word of consent to move in? Quite frankly, I don't want to waste my time."

There.

That was bold enough.

Yet instead of a positive response (which in her opinion should have occurred much earlier on in the conversation), their attentions were temporarily distracted by a small clicking noise. Blake's pivoted on her feet, turning around to see the front entrance slowly open.

"Hey, Blake. Have you seen-"

Whoever it was at the doorway immediately froze, ceasing the action of pushing open the door any farther. Curious, Weiss leaned to her right, peaking over Blake's shoulder in sufficient timing to see a figure make an oddly familiar squeaking sound before rapidly closing the door.

She could have sworn that she saw that shade of reddish black hair before.

Weiss almost hoped that the entry remained closed and that her instincts would, by some miraculous chance, be proven wrong. Fate made sure that the door reopened though, as wide as it possibly could be slammed, revealing the full stature of a wide-eyed Ruby Rose.

"Weiss?!" screeched the miniature bombshell from her past.

Only one thought processed through the heiress's mind now: "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me."

Staring in between the baffled pair, Blake stood quite still, wearing a perplexed countenance. "Do you two know each other?"

"Yeah... We went to high school together," answered Ruby, a bit numbly, as if she hadn't fully recovered from the shock yet.

Blake turned her head towards the heiress. Unable to deny this fact, Weiss could only nod in confirmation.

"Wait a second..." The gears turned noisily in Ruby's head. "Is she your new roommate?"

"...Um?"

And before either Blake or Weiss could input their opinions on the affair, the girl carried on in a much more excited chatter. "Because Weiss is probably the most responsible, coolest, smartest roommate you can ever have!"

The energetic girl turned red at her own outburst while Weiss was closer to irritated at the almost embarrassingly fulsome remarks. Was it possible for someone to be this identical to her past-self, even after so many years of disconnection and maturing? The possibilities should be normally slim, but it came off as such an easily attainable task for her alumnus who bounced up and down before her.

It seemed as though being Ruby's acquaintance had one, and only one, positive effect: convincing Blake that she wasn't a complete lunatic. There was a moment of hesitation, but eventually the tenant arrived at her conclusion.

"Weiss, you're welcome to move in anytime you like. Tomorrow morning, I'll have the forms ready to sign." Then with a much graver expression, the girl fixed her dull orbs on the visitor. "Ruby, is there something you needed?"

"No, I just wanted to check up on you!" But she dropped the level of feign cheeriness, shutting up instantly at the disturbingly deadened look on the other's face. "Also, um, I can't find Yang...and... Blake, are you okay?"

The young woman moved rigidly, confirming that she wasn't in the mood for more human contact.

"I'm fine," she said, rather flatly, making the two individuals in the room slightly uncomfortable. "I'm taking a longer shift today. I'll see you later, Ruby. Please make yourself at home, Weiss."

The heiress would have paid her soon-to-be roommate a hefty sum of money not to leave the room. Unfortunately, she missed her chance of making such an effort as the girl looked to be just as anxious to flee the scene.

"Don't worry about it. Blake's not usually like that." Completely misinterpreting blatant annoyance as worry, Ruby laughed nervously as she explained so. "She's just having a pretty rough day... I'm guessing..."

"I see," Weiss commented shortly, intending to end the conversation.

It was bizarre how she was no longer edgy. She learned this in past, that the presence of Ruby tended to have this effect.

"But seriously! This is such a crazy coincidence! I was just trying to call you but you weren't picking up."

"Oh." That's because the card was outdated, thought the heiress inwardly, as one of the first tasks on her list of priorities was changing the number to her personal mobile. Naturally, Weiss didn't mention this, choosing to stay ignorant on the topic. "There must have been a mistake."

"You're right. I probably dialed the number wrong or something... But now that I got you here..." Ruby spoke quickly but bravely. "Do you maybe want to grab something to eat together?"

"...I have to unpack." Weiss excused herself once more.

"Are you sure?" She faltered. "I mean... I know this great restaurant right around the corner?"

"I'm not very hungry."

"Oh... Okay then!" Regardless of the straightforward dismissals, Ruby grinned toothily, pointing absentmindedly to the corridor behind her. "Just knock on the door across the hall if you need any help. My sister and I live in apartment fifteen."

The air grew frigid as the girl made her anticlimactic exit.

For a moment, Weiss seriously contemplated the idea of chasing Blake out the building, screaming to her that the deal was off.

An occasional visitor, as a friend to her roommate, she could have possibly handled Ruby Rose in that sort of context. But now she was stuck in a no-win situation.

She hadn't planned on meeting this girl again. The way that she stared - keen silver eyes, large in anticipation and excitement, gazing at her in joyous recollection, as if they were old friends being reacquainted with each other - it was all very unsettling. Ruby brought for her...a weird sense of nostalgia, of a past that was more bitter than sweet.

As far as she remembered, they were never friends.

Follow by Weiss's glyph

Blake rescuing people from the water with Gambol Shroud; young man with doctor and Yang by her side.

"Blake!" Ruby waved her arms to grab her attention. "Are you okay?" She shouted, enunciating her words as the volume of the water drowned most of her voice.

Blake didn't answer; she certainly didn't seem to be fairing too well, despite the small thumbs-up she had signaled to them from across the flooded fields.

They were interrupted by the screech of the monster.

fight monster, almost impossible

"Ruby!"

"I'm fine! I'm fine! Nothing's broken."

Stolid

Blake saves them.

They took a deep breath, having to stop and think.

It was at that moment, a strike of lightning flew past from above; there was an explosion, and for a second the sky was lit with light. Ruby and Weiss ducked, squinting their eyes as a neighboring watchtower perished, its old wooden structure floundering, crackling with a sudden electric current. The smell of burning wood stung their noses, though it rained without a cease, dampening the burnt ground. Ruby stared up at the clouds, then back at the wreckage of the storm, her mind rapidly turning at its remains.

"That's it," Ruby whispered, silver eyes glistening with sudden insight. "Wait, Weiss- That's it!"

The small huntress stood up at once, hardly flinching as rolls of thunder grew closer. Weiss followed her gaze, appearing more terrified by her partner's glee than anything else.

"Ruby, no." Weiss instinctively shook her head. "No. Ruby- No way! I know that look! I cannot risk dying tonight!"

"Relax! I've got an idea," Ruby ensured. "You trust me, right?"

"Of course I trust you," Weiss retorted at once, and then grimaced, realizing how effortless it was, now, to admit her true feelings.

"I- You know what I mean," the heiress said in a petulant voice. "Just be careful," she added, biting the inner side of her lip, watching as Ruby cocked her a brief nod of determination.

"Cover for me?" Ruby asked, a pleasant smile breaking quietly over her lips.

Weiss nodded. "Always."


	28. Running Back to You (Part 4)

The weather had never seemed so melancholy before. Large glass walls invited in streams of the afternoon sunlight. Though like the frosty air of early January, it did little to keep her warm.

Yang Xiao Long sat despondently on a reclined bench, her mind attempting to process the enormity of what had occurred in the past hour.

She had been confessed to, and never did she once in her life think that being told she was loved could bring such catastrophic results.

I could have handled it better, admitted the blonde, chastising her actions in belated anger. Yang would have found it much easier to cope if she could narrow down the exact source of her frustration. By identifying the cause - anguish, regret, remorse, or perhaps an even more powerful sentiment - at least by knowing she would be one step closer to configuring a solution. But at the time, there were simply too many possibilities to consider.

The first thing Ruby had asked her was if she had been bothered by the kiss. Not necessarily about "whom she had done it with," but the literal action of it. Though her sister had been sensitive enough to mention it in a roundabout manner, the underlying accusation was obvious; Ruby was asking whether or not she was repulsed by the idea of being intimate with another woman.

There wasn't a clear answer to this quandary. Though she was curious of her own interests, ever since her younger sister's infatuation with another girl during high school, Yang had never once seriously mulled over the extent of her sexuality. But then again, she argued with herself, there was not much reason to. She didn't like to believe in labels. If there was attraction, if there was true love, it didn't matter who it was.

But this was different. This wasn't just some random stranger who was hitting on her, after one too many unflattering stares at her breasts. This wasn't a relationship she could toss away if her partner got too tiring or boring. This wasn't even a relationship she would be able to drown with alcohol and sweat if there were to be a breakup. No. This went against every possible dating regime and standard she had set for herself. The list was thin, but there were several codes she promised to adhere to. Number one: never date your friend's ex. Number two: never date your best friend, period. She never wanted to run the risk of ruining life-long friendships for physical pleasure.

This was Blake. This was Blake Belladonna: friend, _best_ friend, next-door neighbor, college alumnus... Hell, she was practically family; an annoyed, non-blood related, sister who had been there at fraternity parties, holding the glass of punch for her as she danced the night away. Blake was someone who had been there for her, through thick and thin, even when cops showed up at the door of a drinking function that went ballistic. Or, to name a more serious memory, the time she dropped out of college, choosing to study for a personal trainer exam instead of graduating with a proper degree.

The crazy adventures they found themselves tangled in were tales so plenty that Blake could have easily written a book if she had pursued that literature major instead. Pages, despite being filled to the margin, would never be enough to record every excruciating detail as they would carry on their lives together for as long as they were breathing. Blake was someone like that. Someone she would be yelling "Bingo!" with on game night, when they were old, wrinkly, and still classy as fuck. Yang was certain that her sentiment would be reciprocated, she simply hadn't acknowledged the expanse of Blake's heart.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" muttered Yang, bitterly to herself.

But Blake had made indications. Several meaningful ones, now that she surveyed them in retrospection. This sentiment, the blonde wasn't sure how far back it went. But the incident regarding Blake's troubles at work... That had been just over a year, Yang recalled. It was becoming increasingly likely that her friend had been keeping this secret to herself for far too long. Yang now understood why Blake had been so reluctant to enjoy her blind dates. The blonde recognized the unexpectedly forlorn looks on her friend's face when she went on dates herself. The hand that gently patted her back after a breakup had always quivered, Yang felt slightly betrayed to think that the sincere comfort she received could have been tainted with traces of personal relief. It was wrong to think that the world revolved around her, because it surely didn't. But every act of compassion, every cup of tea offered in the morning, every conduct of selflessness and kindness suddenly seemed open for evaluation.

She violently shook her head, driving the sickening thoughts of irrational indictments out of her head.

That couldn't be true. Blake would have done all of the aforementioned, regardless of mushy-gushy feelings. After all, insisted Yang, most of what she had done for Blake measured up to the same amount of absurd concern and blind loyalty. That particular embrace she had wrapped Blake in after work, for instance. Yang had comforted her friend, in what she believed was platonic love, not ever expecting that it could be read as something more.

Yet Blake, who had gone through the same experiences with her for the past four years, had interpreted them as love while she had construed the emotions as irreplaceable friendship. Was the dividing line so fine, or was her friend seeing something that she simply couldn't detect, even with both eyes wide opened? The question went unanswered, so unanswered that it felt like there would never be one down the road.

Feelings turned so unclear. Everything that had been plain and definite was now blurred, causing the blonde to cross-examine each of her own actions in the former mixture of denial, exhaustion, and argumentation. It all went down to her own issues, what it was she exactly felt for her favorite veterinarian friend.

To be completely frank, yes, there have been moments where Yang caught herself staring at Blake longer than she should be looking, admiring the way the girl's pants fit around her hips, or the way her lips curled into a rare but beautiful smile. She had passed on such deeds as admiration more than anything else. Something any girl was capable of having towards a friend, who in Yang's opinion should be worthy of such appreciation.

But if the sentiments she carried _were_ something special enough, then she had to confine the reason for the response she had given her friend. If she was in love with Blake, why was the sole answer she could come up with at the time...a result of a deranged fight-or-flight instinct, grappled by fear and a sudden depletion of confidence?

Stupid.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Yang hoped that a relationship was still salvageable. The thought that she could be the proprietor of tears made her ridden with guilt. There had been instances when the blonde caught her friend crying, if, and only if, she thought she was truly alone. The image of Blake sulking or, god-forbid, choosing to seclude herself from any comforting hands, left a damaging blow at the pit of the blonde's stomach.

She had been the one to cause it; the pitiful cracking of her friend's voice as she carefully asked to be alone - it had been solely her fault. Yang didn't know how she could face the girl ever again, though it was crucial that she must. Clenching her hands into fists on top of her lap, the blonde attempted to ease her mind. It made Yang feel even worse that she was trying to make herself feel better when she had obviously done the complete opposite to someone else. Regardless, longing for even the mildest symptom of amnesia had to be justified, as nothing else refused to enter her mind except the slightly watery eyes of her friend who she had left behind the barricade of a door.

But the ambiance of seriousness was broken away when a cheery tune of music flowed into the room.

It took several rings before Yang was even able to register the sound as her own. She pulled the device out of her pocket and was immediately disappointed by the caller ID. Setting her mobile down onto the area next to her, Yang was ready to ignore it and move onto additional rumination. Yet her phone declined to be discreet, singing its meowing cat ringtone that had never seemed more annoying to her than it did now.

Swiping the screen, so dangerously fast that she could have sliced a finger on its chipped screen, Yang took a moment to heave in a breath of calming air before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Yang." There was no trace of humor in Sun's voice either. "We need to talk."

"Now?" She sighed loudly, not attempting to hide her irritation. "Can't this wait until later?"

"No," he said thickly. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm..." The blonde warily glanced around the room, then deciding to be truthful, replied, "I'm at the fitness studio."

"Good." There was a grunt of miniature approval. "I'm already here. Open the door."

She was hoping that he was joking. But Sun said nothing else over the phone, giving the blonde no other choice but to move from her fixed position and walk over to the front glass doors to find a young man waiting on the other side. He lowered the mobile from his ear as he watched her approach, hanging up the call entirely as she unlocked the hinges and opened the entrance, inviting him inside.

"What are you doing here? Auditioning for a new horror movie or something?" She asked him, not hesitating to convey her displeasure at his incredibly stalker-like behavior.

"I hoped you'd be here." He merely shrugged as he stamped past her into the empty gym, gazing around the unused equipment in haste. He turned, and observed her jogging pants and sleeveless hood. Arching an eyebrow, Sun commented rather reproachfully, "You're not dressed for a lunch date."

"I cancelled. It wasn't a big deal," said Yang shortly, wondering why on earth he was being so fiercely interrogative. She waited for him to elaborate, but he did nothing of the sort; instead, he chose to simply stare at her, a grim frown hiding his normally visible smile. "Okay, so tell me. What was so urgent that you had to come all the way out here just to talk?"

However, what she asked seemed to make him even more vicious in his reticence. A worrisome shudder ran along her spine. Was there a chance that he knew what happened this morning? It was possible that Blake told him, as he had been, and still was, a closer acquaintance to Blake than he was hers. In fact, was there a possibility that he already knew of Blake's hidden feelings even before she, herself, was told?

"If you want to talk about what happened last night," she began, deciding to take the safe route. "I'm really not in the mood."

With that, Yang finally managed to get her friend to open his mouth. Yet the words that were carefully composed out had neither the sanctification nor the clarification she was searching for. Sun glared at her as he said, "I'm going out with Blake today," in a manner one was likely to use when declaring war.

She went numb for a moment. An odd prickling starting at the edge of her thumb. Puzzled by the way he phrased it, Yang had no other choice but to stammer. "You're… um… You're what?"

"I'm thinking of taking her out to dinner." He shrugged, speaking quite smoothly. "Get sushi, like she always wants to. Then go see a movie or something."

The blonde did not understand. Nor did she try too hard to input meaning behind his announcement. Blake and Sun were close. Arguably as close as she was to Blake (although Yang always liked to argue that she was the cooler friend). Following that logic, a simple juncture to a nearby rotating sushi bar had to have meant nothing romantic. But the way he had said it... Something about his stance was oddly confrontational. There was a subtle venom in his voice; though he was attempting to repress it, the spite was nevertheless becoming evident. He wasn't angry with her. He was furious.

"…Yeah…? That sounds good," she replied, trying not to be bothered by the lump growing at the inner sides of her throat. "But why are you telling me all this?"

"Because you're an idiot and I need to spell it out for you to get the point." The bluntness was staggering. His hostile tone turned quite impossible to ignore. Lilac eyes froze onto him with a completely dumbfounded stare. As a response, he simply scoffed, partaking in little pity at the blonde's expression. "Oh, come on. No need to be so dramatic. It's not like I'm making any of this up."

"What the hell's your problem?" Mirroring his attitude, she decided to end the pleasantries as well. "Are you still drunk? You're not usually this much of an asshole, even on your worst days."

"No, I'm not drunk," he hissed the last word in indignation. "Because unlike somebody we know, I don't need help from alcohol to say what I want."

There wasn't any elucidation needed in order for Yang to crack that code.

"Sun," she growled his name in a warning, ominous fashion. "For the last time... What do you want?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know." Voices were beginning to be raised. "Blake's not answering her phone and I'm willing to bet anything that you have something to do with it. Now we all saw what happened last night and I should have known that _this_ is how you'd react to it. Just what in the world did you say to her?"

There was a lingering touch of blame in his tone that she rather resented.

Yang gritted her teeth. "This really has nothing to do with you."

"If this involves Blake, then it has everything to do with me." The blonde raised a suspicious brow at his assertion, the amount of concern he had for their mutual friend coming off almost as territorial. "You said no to her, didn't you? She said she loved you and you shot her down. I'm not blind, Yang. God, the both of you are so stupid..."

Then he did know. Somehow, it made the situation come off worse from the blonde's perspective. She felt oddly betrayed, questioning why the level of trust she had earned from Blake was weaker than the one Sun had managed to acquire.

"I hope you know how lucky you are," he continued, looking dangerously close to running a fist through the wall. "But I seriously doubt that you do. Obviously, you don't know how to seize an opportunity when you see one, because this one has been staring at you right in the face for the past goddamn year."

"Okay, I get it. You're upset. But it's not like I wanted to hurt her! So stop-" She glared back at him with an equal amount of intensity. "Stop _looking_ at me like that!"

She was shouting too now, wishing that he had the knowledge to enlighten her with, no matter how much the truth would stab at her. "Just tell me exactly what I did wrong so that I can fix it."

"Oh, _now_ you want to do something about it?" His voice took on a new level of harshness, outrage clear in his aura at the blonde's apparent blindness. "For fuck's sake, Yang! You led her on! You led her on and when she finally comes to terms with her feelings, you go ahead and break her heart."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he allowed her to do no such thing. "No! Don't you dare tell me you never thought of her in that way when you treated her like you did. Don't tell me you never, not even once, saw a possibility of that happening just because she's a girl. You've known her for four years. You guys spend every spare moment together. You're _always_ around!"

He threw his arms in the air, so vigorously that the blonde found herself back-pedaling into the wall behind her. "Listen to yourself when you talk to her, Yang. There is nothing platonic between the two of you. So stop acting like the victim here, saying things like: 'Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that I was affecting her so much? I was only flirting and being inappropriately personal with my best friend, twenty-four hours, seven days a week. I have no-o-thing to do with the fact that Blake somehow _magically_ fell in love with me! I guess I'm _that_ charming!' Just drop it, all right? I won't buy it."

Silence drained the life out of her, and every irregular breathing heard from the fuming man made her feel shorter by comparison.

Yang found that her vocal chords weren't operating, not allowing retorts to come as quickly as she wanted them to.

"I would never... I would _never_ even think of..." But what if what he said was true? Had she committed such an awful act without any realization? She stared down at the lining of her slacks, as though an appropriate comeback were stitched somewhere alongside her sweatpants.

"...I treated her like I would treat any other friend," she finally whispered, albeit unconvincingly. "You would do the same for her..."

There was a moment of utter quietude, giving Yang false hope that the screams of revelations were finally over. Yet Sun began to speak once again, though in much calmer, collected manner.

"You're right." He agreed solemnly. "I would do the same for her. But not because I see her as a friend."

She half-expected him to falter and excuse the confession as a tentative joke.

Sun didn't, however.

Instead, he glared on, appearing strangely empowered after having said what he said.

* * *

Weiss opened the last drawer with unwavering apprehension.

Every speck of the room had not survived the girl's relentless vendetta against dust and filth. Needless to say, her roommate had cleaned the room prior to putting up the advertisement but the vicinity needed an extra touch of cleanliness to satisfy a Schnee.

Thankfully, the final slot of the dresser was empty. She was wrong to assume that all rundown apartments in Brooklyn would be harvesting rats and cockroaches, but then again, Weiss liked to check once, and then check twice.

Pushing the bucket of cleaning supplies across the floor, which she had found stashed in the kitchen cupboards, Weiss grabbed and sprayed the right wall with an air freshener. The small corner between the window and the dresser smelled faintly of animal fur. The previous residence of the room must have had a pet, concluded Weiss with a grimace. Her place of residence for now was much too lifeless for her tastes. She needed decorative curtains and new color for the wall paper; she desired the flagrance of potpourri and the hanging of beautiful watercolor paintings next to the bed-stand.

Though was it wise to spend more of her savings on merchandise? Weiss shook her head at her own silliness. No, the items wouldn't have any practical uses, and she needed to be extra thrifty if she was going to survive this ordeal. This wasn't the time to be lucrative.

While allowing the outer surface of the dresser and the insides of the opened drawers to dry, she decided to be more productive with her free time. Unlocking her suitcase, which was laid gently to the left side of the bed, she moved around a few folded garments, careful not to ruin the organized piles, as she pulled out her portable computer. She took the laptop carefully into her hands and peered around the room. Weiss didn't have to search long to see that there wasn't much work space inside her own bedroom. There wasn't even a desk.

Grumbling, she reluctantly stamped out into the living room and decided to settle the object upon the large coffee table in front of the sofa. She sat down on the leather couch, sank a few centimeters into it, and with irritation found that the table was so far below from the cushioned seats that she would have to lean forward the entire time to look properly at her screen. It was one of the numerous downsides of living in an arrangement that was not her own.

Taking the laptop on top of her lap, she reclined into the chair and sighed. Opening it up, she heard it automatically whirl into life, the lock screen appearing in less than a second. After typing in her elongated password, she stared blankly at the standard, non-customized windows home screen. She figured that with all the empty slots of time she had, she would be having a moment of epiphany on what to do next. As a great bullet to her pride, however, Weiss realized that she had no idea where to even begin. The search engine remained empty for several ticking minutes.

She didn't want this to be an opportunity for mockery. The heiress of one of the richest companies in the world had, in the past, no reason to actively search for her place in the world. Her seat had always been reserved for her at the top box. She graduated from high school and immediately joined a short business program, before being admitted straight into her father's company with a mighty big Schnee parachute.

At least, that was the case until a week ago. Now, she had deliberately given up that role, taking on the lackluster persona of the middle class, a position of identity she had deeply idealized for god-knows-what reason during her last existential phase.

But could Weiss even say that there was an accomplishment here worth praising? Or had her first and last venture ended with no result in sight. Despite any noble intentions, here she was: twenty-four years old, completely lost, jobless, homeless, and no direction in life.

...She could always go back?

Limitless riches, merely several train rides apart. Technically, the heiress was one phone call away from proving everybody that she really was just "Daddy's little girl."

With that thought, however, she felt the wave of shame and disgust surge inside her once more. For the fourth time since leaving home, Weiss reminded herself that she was making the right decision, no matter how desolate her situation seemed at the moment.

With a tired exhale of breath, she pressed hard on the off button and watched as the screen turned black.

 _Thump._

It was a sudden thud that made Weiss spring up from the couch. She glanced around, sliding her laptop out of the way, while feeling queasy for being left alone at a place so unfamiliar.

The door thumped a second time, and this time - to Weiss's disbelief - it moaned.

She noiselessly walked off the soft carpet of the living room, onto the oak wood floor of the corridor leading up to the front entrance conjoined with the kitchen. The door knob rattled, and there was a distinct grunt of frustration. She was terrified by the abrupt attempt of intrusion. She was first disposed to analyze it as a threat. An escaped convict? Perhaps a robber in plain daylight? Or could it be-

"Hey, Weiss? Open up, please! It's me-"

Ruby. She slapped herself on the forehead at her own denseness.

Extremely annoyed, Weiss lunged forward and unlocked the knob. She waited a second, not wanting to appear too welcoming by opening up the door for her as well. But the entry remained stationary when shuffling footsteps were still audible from outside. Weiss couldn't control herself as an exasperated sigh escaped her lungs; she reluctantly opened up the door and found herself face-to-face with a gleefully smiling girl. Without an exchange of courteous greetings, her unwanted neighbor rushed forward, holding two flat square boxes in her arms. With her, noticed the heiress as she closed the door, a scent of meat and cheese drifted into the room.

She hadn't expected to deal with her neighbor for another couple of hours. Clearly, she had underestimated Ruby's keenness.

"Sorry for barging in! But these were really starting to burn my arms," the girl laughed as she rubbed the sides of her bare arms, blotches of slight redness on Ruby's otherwise baby white skin.

Her gaze immediately shifted downwards, falling upon the items placed on top of the kitchen counter, which she had spent several minutes wiping.

"Pizza." Weiss observed with a hint of incredulity. "You ordered pizza."

Ruby Rose, living five steps away from her, smiling too broadly, ordering and bringing her cheap source of junk-food. The experience was so surreal, and so impossible only a few weeks ago, that the heiress had to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.

"Yeah! I ordered my usual." Her neighbor, without asking for permission, opened up the box on top to reveal a coat of cheese and pepperonis. "Two, in case you wanted some."

Weiss pulled a long, skeptical face. "You can finish this all by yourself?"

"Well, not unless I'm starving to death. Usually I leave a couple of slices untouched. We live off of leftovers anyway." Ruby paused, then added on in unwanted detail, "We, as in me and my sister. I'll totally re-introduce her to you once she comes home. I don't know if you remember her, but she came to our graduation ceremony? You know... Purple eyes? With the embarrassingly huge camera?"

"Yes. I seem to recall someone..." She held her tongue, very much wanting to say someone obnoxiously loud, but instead replacing it with a phrase much more neutral. "Someone...blonde."

"That's her." Grabbing a napkin piece from a nearby can, Ruby grabbed the edge of one of the slices, tugged, and detached it from its family. "Here. Dig in."

The girl offered the slice to Weiss.

"I thought I told you already." The heiress refuted in a huff. "I'm not hungry."

But a low embarrassing grumble from her stomach revealed the truth.

Cracking a tiny teasing grin, Ruby moved the slice of food even closer to her nose. "I think your stomach's disagreeing with you."

And when Weiss still didn't take the piece into her own hands, the girl practically shoved the extra-large mash of cheese towards the heiress. "Come on, it's on me! Consider it...like a housewarming gift."

The allure of the food was too strong to bear. After all, she hadn't eaten after the dreading room service she was served at the local hotel. Delicately, Weiss wrapped her fingers around the slice, careful to touch only the corners of the napkin and minimize her contact with grease.

The food was surprisingly delicious. Perhaps all the tension and unforeseen surprises from the morning had made her delusional, but Weiss found herself actually enjoying her time. That was...until she turned her head after the fifth bite and saw Ruby, chewing slowly as she kept her unnaturally bright gray eyes staring straight at her own blue orbs.

"Why are you watching me eat?" Weiss didn't hesitate to point out.

"I was just...appreciating the moment!" Ruby went crimson, realizing how creepily her gesture was being interpreted by the other. "It feels so weird seeing you again after all this time. Good! Really good! But weird."

The way the girl was eyeing her now, there was definitely something there that was worth mentioning, in case that it doesn't become an issue in the future.

"Ruby, do you believe that we were friends in high school?" Weiss carefully composed the question in her mind before asking.

It had an effect that the heiress did not anticipate. The face of her neighbor fell.

"Um... Well, I always thought...we kind of were?" Ruby cracked a small smile, one that waited for signs of corroboration that did not come readily. "I mean, I know we didn't talk _that_ much... But we were in the same class for a year. And we were in the same club for a while, remember? It was the two of us and Penny? Although you didn't stay long..."

"...Did you like me when we were at school?"

"I- I, uh, I don't know what you're talking about- I mean- I liked you, of course. I didn't like-like you but uh..." Weiss chose not to intervene, allowing the girl to babble on incoherently as she found herself lost in her own thoughts.

Friends.

Beacon Academy.

The club.

Everything seemed so foreign and distant now, from the perspective of the contemporary. She thought of clearing up the misunderstanding, that they had been nothing but acquaintances in high school, that had been no closer to being friends with Ruby than she was being one with Blake. Yet it was hard to say anything to such a yearning countenance. The younger girl looked to be awaiting some sort of reply. Weiss realized too late that she had been tuning out of the continuing talk.

"Pardon me, I didn't get that." She apologized. "What did you ask me again?"

"I asked what you used to think of me?" Ruby laughed jokingly. "Was I seriously just some annoying classmate to you?"

"...No." A proper response didn't manifest itself quickly. Of course not. The real answer was so much more complex that it could not hardly be summed into a simple sentence. Seeing that she was in no mood to dive into any of her buried thoughts, Weiss made sure there would be no careless slip ups.

"...I'm sorry, but I really need to get back to work," mumbled Weiss, with greater difficulty than she would predict herself needing when saying a farewell.

"Oh! Of course." Ruby nodded understandingly, though she appeared slightly disheartened that the conversation was reaching its end so fast. "The Schnee Dust Company. Important business stuff, right?"

"I don't work there anymore."

Weiss regretted what she said, the instant she realized she was saying it. Perhaps she had been too overly fixated on hiding her thoughts that the switch of veracity was triggered for every other subject of secrecy in her brain. She didn't know who or what demon possessed her lips to move together to say such vile words of truth to someone who she surely didn't want to disappoint.

But Ruby hardly played the part. The younger girl stood still, quietly trailing Weiss's visage, discerning that the news was supposed to be one that caused alarm and, therefore, needed to be dealt with a level of exceptional sensitivity and tact.

"Well, that's cool..." Ruby tried to lighten the sudden awkward silence with a nervous chuckle. "I mean, project manager? That job sounded a bit boring to be honest..."

"Mhmm." Weiss couldn't agree more.

"...Um... So what do you do now?"

"I- I'm currently being relocated," lied the heiress. Then she cleared her throat, as her neighbor hadn't moved from the spot at all. "But I still have a lot work to do. So, if you don't mind...?"

"...Right! Sorry to bother you then. I'll leave this here for you to enjoy." Ruby stuffed the leftover piece of pizza into her widened mouth. Then wiping her hands clean of flour and grease, she picked up the second pizza box back into her hands.

Swallowing all of her food down in a dangerously huge gulp, Ruby continued in a softer, more worried pitch. "And hey... If you ever want to talk, I'll be right here. Just because we weren't best friends then, doesn't mean we can't start being one now!"

Then the girl startled Weiss by presenting her with what seemed to be the dopiest smile she had ever witnessed in years. Weiss was cruelly reminded of how Ruby Rose certainly wasn't like any other girl she had met in her entire life span. She was wonderfully, enviously, different.

"…Thank you for the offer." Weiss said while closing the door, her hand already reaching for the lock. "I'll think about it."

It was only once when she left that the heiress could think of an appropriate response to the prior question of impressions. There was a simple, paradoxical, way to explain what she used to think of the girl who now lived next door.

She hated Ruby Rose.

But she had desired Ruby Rose, with an equal amount of severity.

* * *

'Thank you, 2016,' thought Blake sarcastically, 'For another great start to another great year.'

It was her own fault, for having expected that life would undergo an unexpected change this time around. She realized now that all she could have been wishing for was for things to not turn out worse, which it had. It was too late to beg for peace now, especially since everything horribly imaginable had happened to her in the past several hours.

Yet she held no regrets over what she had done. In fact, she should have told Yang sooner.

Blake wondered why, amidst all of the pain and misery that she had succumbed to, there was the presence of alleviating relief. She realized it was because the confession had been out of incredibly selfish reasons: for herself, more than anything else.

She had done it to attain a sense of closure. Because if she kept it in any longer, the truth would have eaten her alive. At least now, with all troubling thoughts out in the air, she was free from hiding. After hearing the echoing rejection, Blake would finally be able to convince herself to move on.

The only worry that consumed her now was the aftermath.

She chose not to dwell further on the topic. The wound from Yang's reaction was too fresh for her to dab salt all over it with any overwhelming thoughts. Knowing her, and her own overly analytical personality, nothing she could say or think now would provide any sense of comfort to the gaping hole inside her chest.

Work.

She would focus on work. Forget any other New Year's Resolutions, she wasn't leaving her office ever again.

"Blake?" A deeply surprised voice separated her from her thoughts. Looking up, she found two round brown orbs gazing down at her. Velvet blinked once before asking again, "How long have you been here? I thought you were taking a night shift."

"I started early," said Blake slowly, ceasing the motion of typing for the moment.

"How early?" Velvet moved closer and found a tower of notes on top of her friend's desk. "Did you take care of all of these appointments by yourself?

"I'm organizing the reports..." She excused herself, uncomfortably shifting the papers away from her co-worker's sharp field of vision.

Her friend's expression seemed to be asking her in silence, whether she was in pursuit of a promotion or a stroke. Blake chose to ignore the concern and return to her work. "I'm busy, Velv."

"Well... A patient's waiting for you in the examination room. He specifically asked for you. I didn't know you would be here but he asked me to go check and..." From the corner of her eyes, she saw her colleague glimpse at her tentatively. "He said it was pretty urgent...?"

"All right," sighed Blake, allowing herself to rise from the desk only when there was another patient to treat. She walked out the door, closely being followed by Velvet. As they traveled down the halls, the veterinarian checked her appointment clipboard, pondering on which meeting she had been forgetting to attend. Blake found it strange that there was no prior schedule written on her agenda corresponding to the present time slot. Upon reaching the room, she realized why it had been so. Next to the illuminated table, she identified a familiar presence of sandy yellow hair.

"Sun...?"

"Hey." He waved breezily at her. In return, Blake shot a well-earned glare towards Velvet, who offered a rather apologetic look before closing the door tightly shut.

"You do realize that this room is for patients and clients only," she stated sourly, hardly needing to underline the discomfort in her voice.

"There was an emergency!" He claimed, still wearing the same, playful grin.

She scoffed at his lack of originality. "You don't even own a pet."

He massaged the left side of neck, whining as he did so. "I am feeling a bit under the weather though."

"'Well, you're lucky I can redirect you to the nearest hospital then," said Blake. Wanting no more fraction of her time being spent babysitting him, she reopened the door, implying that she greatly wished for him to take his leave. "Because I'm a vet, not a doctor."

"Sheesh." He rolled his eyes quite naturally in response. "Do you want me to leave that badly?"

"I'm busy," she answered, her tone entreating.

"Is that why you weren't picking up your phone?" Sun asked, frowning in slight frustration.

"Yes."

"And ignoring my messages?"

"Yes."

"And hanging up on me?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Like that one time you accidentally answered my call?"

Her migraine was very close to returning at his incessant questions. Massaging her temples, she closed her eyes in attempts to relieve the stress on them. "What's your point?"

She wanted to be careful not to be too biting or rude to him. Sun had no idea what had happened to her, what had changed her in such a short period of time. Venting out her own complicated emotions onto him would be plain wrong.

"...I just wanted to check up on you."

Blake took a peek at his face and found that he had taken approximately a second to become suddenly sincere. She was afraid of what he was thinking, and where the concern was truly rooting from. It didn't sound like he was checking up on a friend with a regular hangover. The color of his irises swam in deep understanding that drove her mad.

There was no way he knew. He couldn't.

"I'm doing fine. I took a pill," she replied in a choppy fashion. "Don't worry about me."

"Did you eat the soup that I dropped off for you?"

"...Yes?"

"Okay. So that's a no." Sun smirked at her, apparently amused by the fact that she was skating on a very thin layer of impatience. "Let me take you out then. We'll have some sushi, okay? And we'll watch a movie. And we'll get you some popcorn and some nice cotton candy."

"...Please stop patronizing me."

"Never."


	29. Running Back to You (Part 5)

In great need to sort out her thoughts, Blake had excused herself to the bathroom.

A moment ago she had been sitting alone at her office in relative peace - away from people, away from friends, and away from any blondes. Now, she actively searched for silence among the crowd, trying hard not to resent Velvet too much, who had pulled out her seniority card and practically forced her to take a break from work. Abandoned by the single sanctuary she constructed for herself, Blake was forced to spend the rest of her evening with none other than Sun. Sun, who had been ridiculously adamant on making the night memorable for her. He had stated that the best way to get over a hangover was to not be hung over by it. For some strange reason, when he had contended the phrase, she misheard the noun as another word, a term more along the lines of a heartbreak than any illness associated with alcohol. It could have been a fluke of her stressed mind, but the manner in which Sun was trying, bending over backwards in order to get her to laugh, seemed much more desperate than his usual tactics for hilarity.

Blake pondered on why this was so. After all, Yang would never have reason to consult him with the issue of this morning, and she herself had been careful not to let anything slip in his presence. Then again... She had to harshly remind herself that it was most probable for Sun to have witnessed the New Year's Eve kiss. Considering this, being left alone with him sounded like an even more awful idea.

Washing her hands, for what felt to be an hour, Blake stared into the depth of the mirror, wondering if her friend would be waiting outside the door. The water of the faucet had long since shut off on its own accord. She waited for the droplets of water on her palm to naturally drip off into the sink. Then when a person from behind demanded her to move, she shifted out of the way, feeling slightly apologetic for having created a short line during her period of cogitation.

Once she headed outside, with immense relief, she found that Sun was nowhere around the vicinity of the washroom. He must not have returned from the snack counter, where he had rushed off to purchase some popcorn and milk-duds before the movie began. Honestly, she thought, he still acted like a child.

She spent the next minute staring at the front of her shoes, half-hoping that her companion would just abandon his post. And for a split second, she considered fleeing, leaving Sun a polite text message of declination on the cab ride home. But as her brain avidly denied against the idea of such unforeseen rudeness, Blake accidentally distracted herself too much, to the point where she slammed into the backside of a stranger as she walked.

The man made a small "oof!" sound upon impact.

Rubbing the brim of her nose, where she had rammed into the man's spine, she mumbled a quiet "sorry." The person in front of her had turned around, but he hadn't budged, nor had he accepted her apology.

Sighing, Blake lifted her head and gazed upwards, expecting to find the irritated countenance of a man, who obviously had little toleration for mistakes. Instead, she found herself staring into widened eyes, each of a hue that strikingly resembled the ocean.

"Oh, it's you!" The man greeted her rather nervously, but still quite eagerly. "Hi!"

He attempted a short wave, an action that faltered immediately at the look of stoicism on the girl's visage.

"...I'm sorry. Do I know you?" She asked while curiously scanning the male's physique, noting the loose sleeves of his hoodie, the tattered knees of his denim pants, and his runners that ran up to his ankles.

"Uh... Jaune, remember? Jaune Arc? We went on a blind date yesterday." Her jaws dropped open as the man's mustard colored bangs finally clicked with something inside her brain.

"Oh god." She gasped, feeling ruefully embarrassed. "Of course. Hi, Jaune."

"Wow. It is so weird seeing you again so soon. Small world, huh?" There was a shaky emission of laughter, to which Blake joined in for the time being. "...Well, this is even more awkward than the day before."

"Yes... I suppose it is," she agreed with a slight wince, recollecting their first and last encounter. "I'm sorry. I still feel pretty bad about leaving you there."

"No! Don't be," said Jaune, a bit more adamantly than she expected. "Actually... After you left, I ended up running into someone else."

"Really?" She didn't mean to sound disbelieving, just surprised.

"Well... Literally, I ran into someone else," he clarified, wearing a rather goofy grin. "We kind of crashed into each other. And I thought it was my fault and she thought it was hers- But it's cool! I'm actually here with her right now."

"That's great, Jaune." She offered him a sincere smile. "I'm happy to hear that."

"Yeah, well, uh... I guess I should be thanking you?" He stated after a short thought. "In a weird sense, I met her because of you."

She returned his remark with a look of hesitance. She didn't want to take credit for somebody else's romantic success when all she had done was break a promise with a friend and leave a man to dine alone on New Year's Eve.

"Hey, buddy." A cutting voice budged into the conversation. "Do you need something from her?"

Sun, with the worst possible timing in the history of mankind, had returned with a unusually large bucket of popcorn, and a coke. At the sight of a presumable stranger, he stood incredibly close to her right side. His dark eyes fixated on Jaune in an intimating manner.

"Oh no!" Jaune waved his arms in the air, in earnest denial, at her friend's less-than-polite attitude. "Don't worry! I wasn't flirting with your...um... Your girlfriend?"

The man had made his far guess with an extreme level of caution. He then stared straight at the veterinarian, curiosity being reflected in his orbs.

"I'm not his-"

"It's fine," Sun finished her words, with an air of finality and concurrence that horrified her. "But we actually have a movie to catch."

"Yeah! Yeah, me too." He cleared his throat then before he walked off, he passed her an irritating smile of encouragement. "Congratulations, Blake. Maybe I'll run into you again someday."

She could tell from the man's expression that he, too, had connected all the wrong dots. Jaune was an acquaintance of Velvet; Velvet was best friends with Coco; Coco was close with Yang. If news got to the blonde somehow that she had been on a "date" with Sun, Blake knew that the end would be disastrous.

"That wasn't necessary..." she started, speaking in a low reproachful tone. "He wasn't bothering me."

"Really?" challenged Sun hotly, his eyebrows raised so high that they were nearly hidden by his bangs. "So you would have preferred to have that creeper breathing all over you?"

"He's not a creeper," pressed Blake. "He's an acquaintance I met through Velvet."

At Sun's expression, that seemed to still say, "I ain't buying it," she added in a more angry hiss: "And he wasn't _hitting_ on me. He's here on a date with another girl."

"...Oh." Her male friend suddenly became silent and sheepish, scratching the back of his neck in sheer embarrassment.

Good, thought Blake. She was beginning to think that he was lacking those genes.

"Well, can you blame me?" He tried again with a light, flippant tone. "You're really hot! I'm just trying to keep the wolves off of you."

She didn't like the way the phrase sounded as it exited his mouth. He made her feel as if she was a porcelain doll on display, in great need of protection by an owner fearful of it breaking.

"I can handle myself," she replied gruffly, then tugged the edge of his shirt, dragging him away from the direction Jaune had disappeared to. In spite of her rebuking, her companion recovered too quickly and regained his exceedingly good mood. The intense joy, whether or not it was meant to be a benefit for her to enjoy, was starting to become a nuisance. As they approached their designated seats, she was ready to tell him off, stating that she would deal with whatever it was she was coping with on her own.

But then during the minuscule moment in time where she had turned quite abruptly on her heel to glare up at his face, she had found him wearing the most profound expression. Profound, for it was such a raw emotion of pain that was ill-suited for his usual carefree character. For a split second, anything even remotely jocular had been swept away from his features. In swift speed, she assessed him and even discovered a poorly concealed sentiment of longing. Involuntarily, she took a step away from him. The retreat alarmed Sun as well as the craving that stirred her was quick to vanish.

"Sun?"

He turned away from her, averting eye contact for the moment while sucking extra-nonchalantly from the bent edge of his straw.

"Sun... Are we on a-"

"Could you hold this for me?" Her friend looked down as he cut off her words, passing the bucket of popcorn and soda into her arms. "I need to tie my shoes."

She numbly took the drinks he pushed towards her, doing as she was told but vigilantly watching him as he bent down to reach for his loose sneakers.

The vibe was growing even stranger. In fact, the silence forced Blake to realize that it had been an extensively long time since they had done something together, together without the presence of others. Just the two of them. Alone.

"Sorry. What were you going to say?" Sun asked coolly as he straightened his back.

"...Nevermind." Blake pushed the collection of snacks into his chest and stalked off quickly. She shut her mouth, thinking against the crazy question. That would open up another can of worms and she didn't have the strength to clean another mess.

"Come on." He grinned broadly, quickening his pace to catch her. "I don't want to miss the trailers."

In relative quietude, they walked off to the cinema room assigned to them by their tickets. Blake tried hard not to notice any more peculiar behaviors from her male companion, but he made it much too difficult of a task, as she consistently saw him, in her peripheral vision, to be looking intensely at her.

Finally, as they had been sitting in their seats for a minute or two in a dimly lit room, Blake cracked under the pressure.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" She inquired, in a tone that was harsh and accusing.

"No reason." He shrugged, then adjusted his eyes onto the screen that was playing a candy bar commercial. "Hey... So, do you know what this movie's about?"

"I don't know." Blake huffed in exasperation. "You're the one who bought the tickets."

"I just got anything that was playing at the moment..." He took out a movie flier from his pocket, which he had picked up along the way. Unfolding it until it was flat and crinkly, he moved it closer to his face to read. "But I think it's supposed to be a regular slasher film."

"That sounds wonderful," said Blake dryly. She dealt with enough blood at work.

"Okay, next time you get to choose." He smiled tenderly. After slurping on his drink, he passed it over to her. "Coke?"

She glanced down and noticed the red straw. The top edge of it had already acquired bite marks. Blake frowned, recognizing it as a distinctive sign of nervousness for her friend.

"...No. I'm good."

He bobbed his head, not reading too deeply at the reason for her rejection. Casually, he leaned forward and grabbed some popcorn out of the bucket, which he had left in her lap. It was distracting each time he came closer in order to scoop up bits of food, even dropping a few as they made their way towards his mouth.

"Here." She offered the bucket to him after four handfuls had been taken. "Why don't you hold onto it?"

"Nah." He declined with the wave of a hand. "If I keep it, I'll end up finishing the whole thing half way through the movie."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he shushed her quickly, as the room turned even darker, lights dying completely to announce the start of the movie. Grumbling, she sank into her seat, watching the opening scenes unfold in an increasingly bad mood.

"Hey, aren't you cold?" A whisper tickled her left ear. She turned to see his eyes staring directly at her again and not at the screen. Blake frowned, wondering why he had asked. She looked down at her outfit and noted that she was wearing relatively thin-layered clothes. Her arms were crossed and perhaps she had been shivering, but it wasn't nearly enough for him to notice in the shadows.

"I'm fine," she answered, hoping that it had merely been a question of politeness.

But he didn't seem to quite comprehend the meaning of the word "fine." Immediately, he was pulling off his jacket, revealing an even thinner shirt than the one she was wearing. Sun pulled his arms out of the sleeves and drew the clothing on top of her like a warm blanket.

"I said I was fine," she murmured, feeling embarrassed at the way she was being babied.

He simply smirked at her and in response moved his arm around her neck, landing gently on her shoulders, drawing her ever-so closer. She could practically smell his skin. Her cheeks heated, suddenly realizing why the gesture made her so dreadfully uncomfortable. The goosebumps on her arms weren't from the chilliness at all.

No, this was a sign of affection - one that was much too familiar to her.

As an impressive show of reflexes, she sprung to her feet, pushing the coat towards Sun, earning herself a couple of angry shouts from behind. Muttering a few apologies, to no one in particular, she scrambled out of her seat into the aisle.

She heard Sun call out her name in a hushed yet audible voice. But Blake ignored the addressing, practically jogging up the pitch-black stairway, towards the rear exits of the theater room.

Light poured into her corneas; the outside corridor was empty. She heard the door behind her close then open again with agility. Bracing herself for the inevitable interrogation, she decided to at least gain the upper-hand.

"What was that?" She asked him, turning around fiercely.

"Uh... I think that's what I should be asking you," his confused voice responded.

"Sun." She paused, then finally allowed her instincts to run loose. "We're not on a...date... Are we?"

"No. Of course not."

There was a visible exhale of relief, but it was not reciprocated with a jocose smile.

"But how would you feel if we were?"

"...Excuse me?" She cracked her first smile of the evening, one that was out of breathtaking astonishment than anything else.

He, however, started to wear a much more grim expression. Blake hated how seriousness decorated his outer appearance. She liked it better when he had been nonsensical.

"Please tell me you're joking..." She urged him at the lack of a proper reaction.

"Look." He sighed, pushing some of his hair backwards as he spoke bluntly. "I know you love Yang."

The wind in her pipe was violently cut.

"You- You what?" She wished to say more, but couldn't, as her eyes suddenly felt glazed.

"I know you're in love with Yang," he stated again, coolly, as if the news wasn't something to marvel about. "Honestly, Blake. I'm a lot more perceptive than you give me credit for."

He knew. There was nothing worse than the possibility of his insight.

How was it possible that he was standing there, uttering the facts as they were, not being visibly shaken at all. Had he known for such a long time that he had already dealt with the idea that she was falling head over heels for another woman, when she, in fact, had been his-

"I don't understand," she mumbled. "If you know that... Then why would you...?"

"Because I'm still in love with you." Sun grinned, yet the humor of his gesture did not reach his eyes. "And I don't think Yang's the one who deserves a second chance."

"...Sun." She glanced around tensely, as one would before discussing a great secret in a public place. "We broke up for a reason."

You. You were the reason, her mind echoed.

The world was unfair. But why couldn't it ever be unfair in her favor?

Silence preyed upon them as an unforgivable, ominous presence. The two figures stood still, nervous to gaze directly into each other but concurrently too afraid to look away. They remained rooted to the ground, their heartbeats audible in the air as the unwilling truth finally resurfaced and the two individuals were forced to deal with the fact that they weren't simple friends. They had been much more in the past. They had simply chosen to forget.

"That was high school," he reasoned bravely. "We were just kids then. Hormonal, stupid, irresponsible teenagers. Well, I was anyway."

Sun sighed deeply before continuing. "We got together too quickly and I broke it off too soon. But we're adults now and I think we should give our relationship another chance."

She wasn't sure what sort of expression she was wearing now, as she had long since lost control over her senses, numb from his first spoken words. Yet something about her countenance must have driven him forward with greater passion and reason. His face grew even more determined to persuade. "Just think about it. We had it good. We loved each other. Sure, we went off to different colleges so we ended up breaking apart. But then we somehow met each other last year. And we became friends again."

He smiled in a grateful manner up at the ceiling. "Now, I'm tired of being friends again. You're single and I'm single. You're lonely and I'm lonely."

This time a teasing smirk. "You're beautiful. And I'm...pretty nice to stare at? Don't tell me you don't think this is a good idea."

The look in his eyes betrayed the casual voice that he was using. Blake realized in an instant that this wasn't some felicitous idea that occurred to him this morning, or the day before that. This had required him great thought and valor. The result of her calculation made her exceedingly worried.

"I'm not forcing anything on you. I'm just telling you that..." He fought for his next words. "I'm willing to be your plan B. I can help you forget about her and we can start over new."

Her face began to hurt, as she realized that her mouth had been hanging open. She surrendered to a tiny gasp as he drew nearer, finding the deeply nostalgic scent of his skin maddening.

She pushed forth both her hands and stopped him by the chest. "No. Stop. This isn't fair to you."

"Maybe I don't need it to be fair," whispered Sun as he curled his fingers around her feeble arms and removed the barrier. "Maybe I just want you."

"I can't."

Agony was captured so perfectly in the darkness of his eyes and for a few seconds she was caught in between them, reminiscing on how lovingly she used to stare back at them herself. But they had grown apart, and she had changed beyond recognition. She wasn't nearly as introverted and self-doubting. She was reserved, yes, fidgety around new people, undoubtedly, but she was more confident, more self-assured. She had her doubts and her problems, and admittedly she still used a poor method to deal with them, but all in all, she wasn't the same helpless little girl she was before. That side of her had died when she met Yang.

If only emotions were arbitrary, and by addressing love as something else, by calling pain a different word, then the action would be sufficient enough to confuse the overseer of her own heart.

But they weren't. That was never true. They had to be humans: complex, complicated creatures, full of uncertainty and hesitation, but with innate gut-feelings that, given enough time, allowed them to figure out what it was they truly desired.

"...I'm sorry."

She had learned the procedure by now. They had gone through a similar process before. But despite having knowledge on what to do, she couldn't pluck up the courage to ask the dreaded question. Last time, it had been Sun to bring up the subject of friendship. Now, it was her turn.

"Let's just be friends" had long since been used as a textbook definition of closure. But the nuances of it were imperceptible. She knew how much of a loaded statement that was, after hearing it herself this morning. The only hint of solace Blake received was that she would have very much liked to say it to him, realizing that sometimes the line wasn't a simple obligatory remark people said at the end of a relationship, or in this case, a lack of one.

"No. I'm the one who should be sorry… I don't even know what I was thinking," he muttered bitterly. "What, just because you get your heart broken, you'll come crying back into my arms? ...I'm pathetic."

"You're not pathetic," she said faintly, trying to overcome the weakness in her voice.

Yet no matter how tightly she hung on, her grip was failing. And he was pulling away with a sad smile.

* * *

Yang waited, as patiently as she could, on the couch of her own living room. Arms locked, breathing heavily, she did not allow her body to relax as her younger sister, sitting across from her, desperately attempted to make her do so.

"She lied to me!" The blonde sliced over whatever it was her sister was chattering on about.

"Okay. Technically, she didn't lie to you," Ruby reasoned with difficulty. "She kept information from you."

"Ruby. She used to _date_ him." Yang let out an exasperated scoff, reminding her sibling about the basic foundations of the issue, which had been told to her a couple of hours ago around noon. "Sun used to be her _boyfriend_. I've known her for four years. I've known Sun for over a year. She literally had three hundred and sixty five days to let me- let us know that we were hanging out with her ex all the time!"

"It wasn't all the time!" retorted Ruby, coming in quick defense to her friend. "He came over once in a while. And she never even flirted with him."

"Oh yeah. Because he never looked at her like she was a piece of eye candy," she growled with recollection. "I always knew he had a thing for her. That no-good, smirking little bas-"

"Yang..." The younger girl began in a warning tone.

"Come on, Ruby!" She exploded. "Whose side are you on?"

"No one's!" Her sister stomped her foot down. "I'm on nobody's side!"

The action caused Yang to retreat temporarily, sinking further into the sofa, making incoherent grunts under her breath.

"Listen. I know you talked about things like dishonesty and Blake being secretive and blah, blah, blah. But do you want to know what I think?" No, she really didn't. "I think you're jealous."

"No way!" Yang denied haughtily. "Ruby. Do not turn this into something weird."

"You are _totally_ jealous. Sis, I don't think you're mad at Blake. I think you're mad at yourself because you were this close to letting her go." The blonde's jaws fell open wide, unable to utter a single word, out of which Ruby supposedly gained increasing dosages of confidence. "See? You guys are just blowing this way out of proportion."

"Wait." The blonde paused, storing her belated comeback for later usage. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Her sister asked, although she sounded tired, dreading already what was about to unfold.

"She's here." With that statement, Yang sprung to her feet and stormed towards the front door of her apartment.

"No! Yang, come back!" Ruby practically dived towards her sister, who was anything but calm. But the attempt was futile as the blonde had already flung open the door, providing clear view of the hallway, which was no longer empty. Keys dropped to the ground and the poor startled veterinarian jumped a few feet in the air.

"Oh! Hello, Blake!" chirped Yang. "Back from work already?"

The girl turned slowly before meeting the gaze of the oddly smiling blonde, appearing afraid at the sudden, greatly unexpected, level of verbal contact.

"I... Uh... What?" Blake glimpsed over at Ruby. Amber eyes were begging for assistance.

"Yang," Ruby tugged nervously at the end threads of her sweater. "Don't..."

Before any one of the three could speak (Yang with concealed anger, Ruby with anxious concern, and Blake with utter confusion), their ears paid attention to the sound of soft footsteps echoing down the corridor. Soon, a fourth party member joined in on the hallway gathering.

"What is going on here?" Weiss Schnee glared at the disturbance being created outside of her shared apartment complex.

The blonde intercepted in the middle, turning her back on Blake momentarily to give Ruby a look of deep meaning, one that urged the younger sibling to understand that this confrontation was unavoidable, and that she would be demanding answers from her "best friend," whether or not there was a neighboring presence.

With the emergence of someone new and unrelated, her sister's decision solidified.

"Weiss! Why don't you come with me for a second?" Ruby grabbed the heiress by the arm, forcing the girl - and the bag of groceries she carried - closer to the other apartment suite.

"But-" She struggled against Ruby's surprisingly resistant grip. "But why?"

"It will only take a minute!" argued Ruby, over the girl's horrified protests. Then with the nervous slamming of the door, the two scrambled away from the conversation.

"Well, isn't she nice," commented Yang, in a forcibly merry voice. "That's your new roommate, right? Ruby told me about her before you came. That's what we always do, remember? Talk and talk and talk. Ha! My sister knew that girl in high school, you know."

"...Yes. I've heard," Blake answered rather hesitantly before bending over to pick up her keys. The girl unlocked the door to her own home and then glanced nervously back at the blonde, who hadn't moved an inch. "Did you want to come in?"

"Sure, why not!" Yang yelled in a high-pitched tone. Stamping inside, she predicted the dangerous consequences of her decision, as she had already been losing track of what she was saying, verbalizing her thoughts instantly without much needed consideration.

"Well... What is it?" For some reason, Blake kept the door opened, as if she assumed the blonde wouldn't be staying too long. "Is there something you needed?"

Yang was immensely hurt by the question. Never before in their relationship had Blake sincerely asked her for the purpose of her visit. Each time, the room had been opened with welcoming arms for her. Now, the environment felt much colder and inhospitable.

"I'm here to talk to you." She let out another strained smile. "That's what friends do, right? They talk?"

"I know." A shadow formed over the veterinarian's visage. "But... Yang. I thought you understood that..."

Her sentence drifted off into a carnival of mixed emotions. "...That I needed time."

"It doesn't seem like you needed much when you went on a date with Sun," said Yang in a sour undertone.

The girl in front of her flinched. Perhaps out of guilt, guessed the blonde. But much to her dismay, Blake was quick to recover and to rebut. "I don't know where you heard that from, but it wasn't a date."

"Then what was it?"

"It was nothing."

"Nothing? Really?" Yang pressed on even harder, not willing to accept any other answers than the ones she imagined in her own head. "If what you have with Sun is really nothing, then how come you never mentioned this before?"

"...Mention what?"

"We've been friends for years!" The blonde shouted from across the room. "But for some reason you couldn't tell me he's your ex-boyfriend?"

"How did you...? That's-" The distance between them grew. Blake leaned closer towards the frame of the door, looking like she wanted to flee from her own apartment instead of facing the fuming blonde. "That... It's because it wasn't a big deal... We just wanted to keep it in the past. We ended on good terms."

"Yeah, you must have," drawled Yang, "if you can hang out with him all the time."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Blake's eyes, for a moment, flickered dangerously in her direction. "I must have missed it, but when did the argument start?"

"You started it!" Yang pointed an accusing finger at her friend. "When you didn't tell me about him!"

"Do I have to tell you everything?" The girl excused herself, muttering darkly. "Why must I explain myself to you?"

"Because we're best friends!" The blonde argued fiercely, prodding her opponent to grow equally bothered by the issue. "It's wrong that I didn't know about something this huge!"

"It's not huge," corrected Blake, feeling frustrated by the misunderstanding. "I dated him in high school, for about three months before graduation. That was it. What else do you want to hear about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Did you get lucky?" Yang quipped in a heavily sardonic fashion. "Please, don't leave out any of the juicy details."

Blake groaned into the opened palm of her hand. "Why can't you ever be serious?"

"I've never been more serious in my life," she snapped. "How would you feel if I confessed to you and- and later you found that I've dated...Neptune in the past!"

"Sure." Her friend rolled her eyes at the roughly constructed analogy. "Because that's the same thing."

"It is the same thing!" Yang flailed both her arms, reflecting the wholeness of her frustration. "Blake, do you not realize how this makes me feel? It makes me feel like I don't know you. I used to think that I knew you. Even though you're a pretty private person and all, I used to think that you, at least, wasn't like that with me. Now, I find out that you've been keeping this gigantic secret from me all along! Are you sure you even like me? Or am I just a rebound? Maybe you're actually in love with Sun and this is all a clever ruse to get back together with him? Because it sure as hell is working since he was so eager to take you out tonight!"

"Are you seriously doubting my feelings for you?" She had performed an unforgivable act, realized the blonde in immediate regret. Yang had finally pushed her friend over to the edge of thunderous rage. "How could you even think that? I didn't go on a date with Sun! I don't love him the way I love you!"

But then Blake pulled backwards, anger dissipating hastily, perhaps with the realization that she had unwillingly slipped in another confession.

"...He was just trying to cheer me up," Blake concluded wistfully. "After..."

They spent a moment glowering at each other; heavy, turbulent breathing needed a minute to be mollified.

"Yang. I think it'd be best if we stopped seeing each other for a while." Her friend finally vocalized in a shaky whisper. "I realize that I made a huge mistake telling you how I felt... If we keep this up, I'm afraid our friendship won't even last through it. I need my time to get over you and you need your time to forget this ever happened."

The blonde's heart plummeted a few feet into the ground, faster than an anchor sinking to the grounds of a shallow sea.

No. Oh god, no. This wasn't how Yang wanted things to end at all. What had she expected? That Blake would simply apologize for having kept such a secret from her, provide her with a perfectly plausible excuse, and then they would hold hands and skip around, thinking that the world was all sunshine and rainbows again? There had to be another solution, one that did not involve even a fleeting period of separation.

"I didn't say no," said Yang, her words depicting the desperation of her own soul.

"...What?" The blonde was too afraid to lift her chin, as her friend's voice had dropped several octaves.

"I never said no," she repeated, with even weaker confidence.

"What do you mean you didn't say no?" Neutral, Blake spoke with a sense of complete neutrality. But even without the manifestation of emotion, the reply was harsh and accurate in its reminder. "You said everything in the human language that means no without actually having to say no."

"But- I don't think-" Yang stammered. "I didn't mean it."

"...I don't understand." There was little tolerance remaining in the girl's stance. "Just what are you trying to tell me?"

"I don't know! I'm sorry, but the answer just doesn't come easy for me! What I told you this morning, that was the only thing I could think of at the moment... Maybe I was confused or scared or both!" Yang completely deflated, having squeezed out every ounce of sentiment and thought she had managed to organize so far. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you because- because I don't think of you as...just another friend."

The path until admission had been long and arduous. But once she had exerted enough energy into admitting it, the blonde felt one of the dumbbells being lifted off of her chest.

"Yang. Do you love me?" There was nothing romantic in the way it had been phrased. It almost sounded mildly grating, like Blake was speaking in a manner that screamed at her to make up her mind. Those striking golden irises were pointed directly at her, emotions being inspected in a process that was almost as acute as a postmortem examination.

"...Yes." In that instant, she chose an answer. "Yes, I think I love you."

The reciprocation of feelings had never occurred with so much suspicion.

"Are you sure?" Amber eyes gleamed at her in paralyzing intensity.

"I'm... I'm sure," murmured Yang, hoping that by speaking the right words a warm agreement could be achieved.

Nevertheless, Blake urged for further introspection. "How do you know? Maybe you're just feeling guilty about everything that happened and this is one of your over-the-top ways of compensating for it. Or maybe you think this will resolve the issue for now and you can think of a better solution later. How do I know that you're being sincere?"

The girl's breath hitched as if she was on the threshold of a sob. Noting her friend's alarming pallor, the blonde felt something quite close to a slap at her cheeks. The response stung her physically, at the prospect of it holding the tiniest shred of accuracy.

"I know you never mean to hurt me. But Yang... You're doing it right now." How was it that someone could speak so calmly and collectively, but enunciate words in a way that was so terrifying cold, it reduced her into an incoherent fool. "It took me _months_ to figure out how I felt about you and I would want nothing more than for you to feel the same way about me. But that doesn't mean I'm looking for a coerced yes. I don't want you to be pressured into doing something you don't want to do. And I don't want to be broken in the end, if we give this a chance and you weren't willing to invest in a real relationship to begin with."

"...Blake..."

"I think my new roommate's been stalled enough." The door felt dauntingly big as Blake folded her fingers around its handle. "Maybe you should go home."

"Blake, come on." You don't mean that, pleaded Yang.

In the midst of silence, the conversation had long since transformed into a proceeding of gestures. Amber eyes never strayed from her. As of now, there was only a single thought being communicated between them; it wasn't one of budding romance, nor was it a remaining fracture from a breaking friendship. Blake was requesting for her to leave.

With no shadow of defense, she obeyed. Her character, having changed into someone so docile, made an ignominious retreat. Yang heard the entrance close gently from behind. Yet it felt as though Blake had locked the door and threw away the key.

* * *

"I still don't understand why I must stay here."

"Ssh. I'll be with you in a sec."

"Ruby Rose," started Weiss, in another dangerously warning tone. "This is completely inappropriate."

"Don't worry, my sister will understand." Her threat went unnoticed for the third time as Ruby refused to move from her crouched position, still keeping the side of her right ear glued to the surface of the front door. "We eavesdrop on each other all the time."

"That's not the inappropriateness I was referring to." She puffed a breath of irritation as she had been, obviously, commenting on the ridiculous turn of events, all of which had so far forced them into situations of extreme privacy. Ruby didn't even have the decent courtesy to answer her this time. The heiress didn't blame her; she was neither blind nor deaf, and although the two individuals fighting across the hall were very much strangers to her, even to an outsider's point of view, it was easy to see that whatever the problem was, it wouldn't be resolved too soon.

And as good as her memory was, she remembered that Ruby had always talked fondly of her sister, mentioning her frequently in the oddest occasions. The two appeared freakishly close and Weiss eventually had to admit defeat to the fact that it would take the force of a four-ton truck to pry Ruby away from the door. After all, the sullen expression of worry and anxiety on the girl was far from ordinary.

Weiss gave up on the idea of reaching Ruby. It wasn't like she was eager to talk face-to-face with her anyway. Ruby's action of holding onto the door had simply blocked out her only exit. Perhaps she could try the fire escape, pondered the heiress, though this seemed like a rather vapid idea, as she was wearing a skirt, carrying a bag full of freshly bought groceries, and it was beginning to lightly snow outside.

So instead, Weiss took the moment to freely assess the setting of her neighbor's apartment. A person's home usually reflected his or her character. This one certainly did convey Ruby's personality perfectly: an uncontrollable mess.

With no conscious effort, her face became livid with shock. "Oh my god. You've been robbed."

"No, no, that's how our place always looks. We're just a bit messy," said Ruby briskly, only half-listening to her complaints as she kept her attention fixed on the conversation occurring across the hall.

"A bit messy" hardly covered the disaster inside their apartment. Settling down her bag of groceries, at a spot on the ground that was cleaner in comparison to the rest of the living area, Weiss was forced to observe with a petrified stature.

The living room was a nightmare. Pieces of clothing were either hanging off the couch or lying disarrayed on the floor. Leftover food lounging around on the small coffee table in front of the television set. Glass cups, which held hot cocoa without any proper coasters.

The kitchen was in similarly shabby conditions. Perhaps it was because Weiss had grown accustomed to a certain standard of living, and that her persona was too high maintenance for any normal amount of neatness to satisfy her. But even so, the heiress liked to think that she wouldn't be the only one who wished to rearrange the messy counters, the sink of several unwashed dishes, and a large wooden table that was practically drowning in heaps of papers.

...Papers, Weiss noticed, that had numerous lines and colors.

Something about them caused her to forget the surrounding clutter. Stepping hesitantly towards the round desk, Weiss peaked over the piles and realized that they weren't random sheets of paper, but they were blank pages ripped out of a large sketchbook, each one of them containing a picture that varied from rough to intricate in terms of detail.

Blue eyes widened on their own accord, unable to suppress the level of impression ballooning inside her chest.

"Ruby..." Her voice shook in wonder as her fingers lightly picked up some of the drawings. "Are these yours?"

"Hold on." The girl raised a lone forefinger, rudely telling the heiress to wait as she pressed her ear closer to the door.

"Oh crap! She's coming!" shouted Ruby in a hushed panicky voice. In an instant, she ducked forward, diving behind the heiress's form, eyeing the front entrance with an anxious eye. Weiss was not at all amused, wanting to kindly remind her neighbor that she had not consented to such physical contact. Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with any further nonsense as the doorway remained heavily shut. Ruby blinked several times then rushed back towards the door, recreating her previous spying position. Even Weiss approached the entrance cautiously, becoming intrigued enough to hold her breath and hear a set of withdrawing footsteps walking down the corridor towards the stairs.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Weiss immediately regretted her decision to speak as words of concern blurted out of her mouth. Just a few hours ago, she had promised herself not to be involved in anybody's life except her own. Why was it that this girl always caused her to doubt the soundness of her resolutions.

"No... I think she needs some time alone," said Ruby quietly. "My sister will come back once she's ready to talk."

The girl spoke with a tone of deep maturity that greatly surprised Weiss. The heiress had never seen such a mellowed-out side from the usually hyperactive girl. It was an unsettling feature for her to witness. Weiss hated to think that she was getting to know someone, whom she used to despise so much, on such a tender and personal level.

Nonetheless, it did not last as Ruby returned her gaze towards the heiress, her sullen eyes slowly glancing back and forth from her face and the sheets of paper being held in her hands. Comical panic broke the serious mood.

"Gah!" squeaked Ruby, turning seriously pink. "Don't look at those! They're private!"

"So these _are_ yours?" Weiss repeated the question while successfully maneuvering the thin files out of Ruby's reach, feeling suddenly unwilling to hand them over.

"Uh... Yeah." Ruby nodded mutely. "I'm- Well, I _was_ working."

"You were working? This is...work?" Weiss hadn't said it in a derogatory, doubtful manner. Rather, she had asked it, with just a careful amount of curiosity. "What is it that you do for a living?"

"Oh, did I never mention this before?" The girl frowned before continuing to answer. "I'm a free lance artist. It's not much but uh... I guess it pays the bills."

"I don't understand..." Weiss mumbled, staring down at a penciled sketch of a figure clad in red.

"Those are just some random doodles... Brainstorming, you know, for a client." Ruby went off on another irrelevant tangent. "A writer, actually. He asked me to illustrate some stuff for his book. It's a pretty awesome rendition of the Little Red Riding Hood. You should check it out, if you want, once it gets officially published..."

But Weiss had not been paying attention, for a good reason, as her eyes were still wondrously hooked onto the scattered artwork; her mind refused to accept the news that the person standing before her had been capable of such a talent.

A rare compliment slipped out of her lips. "These are amazing," whispered Weiss, causing herself to feel silly and bashful.

"Uh... Thanks? I guess?" Ruby started to wear a strange face, one that was a combination of giddiness and discomfort, as if Weiss had made a bizarre remark instead.

"Why are you smiling like that?" The heiress inquired sharply.

"No, it's just that..." She grinned some more, in enjoyable recollection. "I remember what you said to me after seeing my artwork for the first time... You said I sucked."

Her cheeks flushed for a moment at another memory; their first conversation in an empty art room after sunrise.

"I used to tell you that your paintings were..." Weiss paraphrased, "eccentric."

"Yeah, I don't think that's the word you used," said Ruby, with a slight bit of a well-intended sneer.

"...I never intended to hurt your feelings," murmured Weiss, an apology that was several years late.

"No! Don't worry about it!" The girl let out a good-natured laugh. "Of course I didn't mind it. It was true! I used to be terrible at drawing. Well... I guess I'm still pretty inexperienced."

"There is no need to be so modest, Ruby," she chided shortly, taking in another drawing, this one having been one of a brilliant scenery: a scarlet red forest with an endless of supply of leaves that fell as peacefully and consistently as rain. "But I'm amazed that you chose to pursue art as a profession."

"Life didn't give me much of a choice," explained Ruby while bearing a remarkably contented visage. "It's the one thing I love to do."

"It must be nice to be you." Unexpected bitterness escaped from her lips. "You're incredibly fortunate that the single thing you want out of life just happens to be your greatest talent."

"Well... That's not true." Ruby used a tone of voice that made Weiss look up from the sketch. The young girl was staring fairly calmly, but this time the shimmer of delight was being temporarily clouded by a look of unease, like she had heard words that made her mildly distraught.

"I'm sorry. Have I offended you?" Weiss asked tensely.

"No. I mean-" Ruby tilted her head slightly, trying to speak in a simplified fashion. "I worked hard, you know, to get where I am now."

There was a slight hint of pride that Weiss never deemed possible, not from a girl who never seemed bothered by losing or being at the receiving end of her terse comments.

Weiss suddenly became aware of the fact that she must have crossed some sort of invisible line, a taut line of pride that even a humble girl like Ruby was entitled to having. Her pompous way of thinking, the perception of envy in which she always considered Ruby, caused her to misjudge the younger girl's character to such an incorrect extent. Simply because some people looked to have it all never meant that they actually ever did - this was a stereotype she frequently suffered from since childhood. As a victim, the heiress knew better than to subject someone to the same irrational judgments.

Up until now, Weiss had never had the opportunity to think for herself. And now that she had the freedom to do so, she could finally mull over a largely foreign idea: no matter how easily Ruby Rose appeared to attain her hopes and dreams, it was wrong to assume that they had been achieved without any sort of turbulence. This girl, quite possibly, fought for it, just as much as she did.

The proof was there, right before her very eyes, in different configurations of recognizable beauty.

"...You're right." Weiss grinned faintly. "I'm sure you did."


	30. Running Back to You (Part 6)

"You're avoiding my sister."

The phrase came out daringly, a well-balanced combination of anger and concern that complemented Ruby's tumultuous state of mind.

Despite the subtle accusation, Blake spent the rest of the minute staring at the pages of her novel. There was no outright change in her tranquil demeanor, except her pupils had stopped trailing through the line of words. The veterinarian took an appropriate amount of a pause before directing a drained sort of gaze towards Ruby.

"I'm not avoiding your sister," she answered candidly. "She's avoiding me."

"You're avoiding each other then!" Ruby let out an exasperated sigh, one that was thinning on the thread of understanding. "Please talk to her. I hate it when you guys fight..."

This statement didn't fully convey just how much the conflict was qualifying Ruby's mood. The girl never considered herself a sadist, and certainly did not derive joy from watching people be torn apart. In fact, the level of discomfort ultimately stemmed from the fact that she could hardly remember the last time Blake and Yang fought. There were numerous squabbles, sure, but most of them were centered on pointless arguments, like the logic behind pizza sandwiches or whether the ace comes after the king or before the two. Never before had there been such a strong dissension that couldn't be resolved with jokes or an objective mediator (who, in most cases, had always been herself). It was like watching an unexpected divorce unfold.

"Ruby," Blake said, suddenly shutting her book. "I have nothing left to say to her."

"But you miss her."

"Miss her? I don't _miss_ her." Blake took the phrase and reiterated it in a twisted fashion. Then catching the earnest look of concern on the other's face, she seemed to control herself. "...What do you expect me to do? Am I supposed to act like nothing ever happened between us? I can't do that right now."

"Well... If it helps, I know she misses you. She misses you and she's sorry." At her words, Blake appeared to have an abundant amount of things to say, most of which - she assumed - would be utterances of objections regarding the matter. For her own sake, Ruby was quick to add on. "Trust me. We tell each other everything, remember? The first thing Yang said to me after you guys fought was: Goddamn it, Ruby, I am the world's greatest idiot."

Blake did not respond nor nod; perhaps she thought that, for the moment, the statement was greatly justified.

"She thinks you hate her."

"That's...ridiculous." The remark affected the veterinarian, although mainly it was a reaction of disbelief than anything else. "Your sister is aware of the fact that I confessed to her just three days ago, right?"

"Can you blame her?" Ruby asked quietly. "After how you kept dodging her calls?"

Blake cringed, as if the mere act of wincing would be enough to excuse the method she had been using to deal with the problem.

"She was being unreasonable," she eventually mumbled in an undertone.

"...Yeah. I get it. And I don't want to take sides..." The sympathy stopped there. "But Blake, I don't get it. Why didn't you tell us about Sun?"

Ruby was adamant on using the term "us" and not "Yang" this time, as she too, to a certain extent, wished that her neighbor had been less reluctant to share such information with her friends.

"...I don't know." Blake replied, in a manner that strongly suggested a sense of heavy incomprehension. "Ruby, when I first met Yang, I didn't have the greatest opinion of her. She was loud and intrusive. Always so jocular and flippant..."

"Hey, hey, hey. We love Yang, remember?" Ruby halted her friend, waving an anxious finger in the air. "Let's keep the love going."

"You understand what I mean." Blake wasn't subtle with the rolling of her eyes. "Back then, that was my first impression of her. To be completely honest, I wanted to avoid your sister at all costs...because she reminded me of Sun."

"Oh." That hadn't been what Ruby was imagining at all. "You... You never mentioned that before."

A moment of awkward silence sliced through them. Edging closer to the foot of the bed, Ruby finally decided to ask: "Did you love him?"

The answer was not immediate. Only when Ruby advanced forward, wearing a most forbidding expression as she sat down next to her, did the girl unlatch the hinges of her jaw.

"...Maybe." Blake swallowed painfully, biting tensely on her lower lip. "When Sun and I parted ways, I missed him for quite a while. Even though I don't like to admit it, I did. That's why... When I met Yang, I was quick to notice so many overlapping qualities."

"Okay? So they can be both funny and loud." Ruby tried her best to get by the idea. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Just... Listen. I don't know why I didn't tell you guys about Sun," she sighed. "When I met him again in Brooklyn, I didn't know what to think. I knew right away that I wasn't in love with him anymore. Time had passed by for far too long. We decided that coincidence brought us together to be friends again. Friends, and nothing more. So he introduced himself as someone I knew from high school. And I went along with it. Honestly, I didn't think it mattered. What happened was in the past and I didn't want you guys treating Sun as my ex rather than a new friend."

"But once he's been hanging out with us for a couple of weeks... Yang said something very strange to me." Blake's expression morphed into one of perplexity. "She asked me if I had a thing for Sun. She asked me if she should try hooking us up on a date or something, play matchmaker."

Her tone instantly changed, to convey an emotion of evocative frustration. "I told her, no. I don't feel that way about him at all. And that was probably the window of opportunity for me to say something... But I didn't."

Strangling an innocent book in her hands, Blake physically wrestled with herself, trying desperately hard to correctly transfer the thought process from her brain to her mouth.

"You see, by that point... I was already beginning to feel things for Yang. I didn't want to make things awkward by telling her something like that. She would have put meaning behind my friendship with Sun," she explained in a slightly fearful voice. "She would have thought that there was a reason I didn't mention him before, a reason close to that of a reoccurring crush or unrequited love..."

After a shaky intake of breath, Blake finished her last words. "I guess, if I ever confessed to her, I didn't want her to think that...she was somebody's replacement. Because she isn't."

The veterinarian peered uneasily at Ruby, who had been remaining perfectly still on the sinking mattress.

"Please, don't misunderstand," said Blake, in a relatively urgent whisper. "I didn't fall in love with your sister because she reminds me of Sun. Yang is nobody's replacement, nor will she ever be. What I feel for her is so much...deeper than that. What once started out as nostalgic curiosity…seems to have now turned into something I can't get out of mind, not even in my dreams."

And with one look at Blake's face, which portrayed an emotion that she seldom let appear, Ruby knew straightaway to believe her.

"Dang it..." She laughed jokingly. "I should have recorded that for Yang to hear. Then maybe you guys won't be acting like such idiots right now."

The comment was funny enough for even Blake to squeeze out the tiniest of smiles. The atmosphere of the room had grown significantly lighter, compared to how downtrodden it had been the minute Ruby walked inside this morning. At least she had both perspectives to work with now, thought Ruby.

But before she could plot her next course of action, her subsequent words were interrupted by a soft knocking sound on the other side of Blake's door. Guessing already who the culprit could be, Ruby gulped as Blake granted the person entry.

Her silver orbs immediately latched onto someone beautiful and small. Suddenly all Ruby was seeing in her field of vision was Weiss, standing underneath the door frame; the heiress must have woken up only recently, as her hair was still down and not brushed along the sides.

"Blake, may I use your printer?" Weiss began asking as she entered. "I need to- Ruby! What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." It was hard to decide who had been more startled. "Well, I live right across the hall."

"Yes, I know that." Blue eyes narrowed relentlessly. "Does that mean you're always free to barge in like this?"

"But um... Blake did kind of let me in?" Ruby tried with a nervous laugh, pointing at her friend, who was sitting a few centimeters beside her on the bed.

The heiress shot an affronted look at the veterinarian, who blinked for a few seconds. Realizing a bit too late that her participation was required, she gave a short nod of confirmation, despite being thoroughly confused.

"...I see." Weiss wasn't satisfied with the answer. She stared, rather disapprovingly at the two girls, before glancing sideways and catching her own reflection in a nearby mirror. Immediately, the heiress took a full step back, carefully hiding her adorable night garments (a silky sky blue dress) and her ruffled hair behind a now half-retreating door.

"Weiss, the printer's right over there," said Blake, pointing helpfully to a desk situated at the right corner of her room.

"It's fine," the heiress responded briskly. "I can attend to it later, after you've finished your discussion with-"

"Oh! Don't let me drive you away!" Ruby cut in, knowing exactly where the girl was going with the matter. "We should chat!"

Weiss's hand slipped off the door handle. "...Chat?"

"Chat?" Even Blake became dumbfounded by the suggestion.

"Yeah! We can have a bit of a bonding time. You, me, Blake- You guys are roommates now, so it'd be nice to chat and get to know each other. I mean, I know Blake pretty well, but uh, you don't know her like I know her but you're the one who's living with her, so...?"

Ruby noticed mid-sentence that she had already started to ramble. Since words were irretrievable once spoken, she began the process of mentally banging herself into a wall.

"...It isn't a bad idea..." Weiss seemed to relent in the beginning, then shook her head, as if avidly trying to stand against the idea. "But I believe you were about to go to work?"

"...Yes. That's right." Blake, who had been watching the two awkwardly interact, intervened only to respond to the heiress's question.

"Exactly." Weiss looked oddly relieved. "We can rearrange a meeting at a later juncture then."

Then she hurriedly left the room, the door not closing entirely as she left in a rush.

Blake, wearing a mildly bemused countenance, shifted her attention back onto Ruby. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You suddenly lost the ability to act like a normal human being."

"Oh gee, thanks a lot." Ruby scowled at the unnecessary insight of honesty. "After all the efforts I've been giving to cheer you up."

Blake opposed the quip with a short apologetic grin, then an expression of searching, indicating that the interrogation was far from over.

"Um... How do I put this...?" Scratching the back of her neck, Ruby stalled in a strangely high-pitched voice. "I may have a...little crush on your roommate."

Amber eyes widened in genuine surprise while Ruby, once again, spurred on to explain. "Yesterday, we had this weird moment together. She was looking at my drawings and complimenting me and smiling at me for the first time. Then I started feeling really happy. Then I started thinking what it'd feel like to feel that...everyday, you know?"

Ruby wished that she could be more articulate. Blake, thankfully, did not need to hear more. Wearing a kind smile, she accepted the fact the way it was. The older girl reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing the surface of it in a friendly, empathetic gesture. And for that, the artist was eternally grateful.

"Since when?" Blake asked gently.

"Well... I may have had a crush on her back in high school. Then I got over that." Ruby brushed it off quickly, not wanting to dwell too long in her memories. "But then seeing her again after all these years? It's kind of like...a crazy blast from the past. I mean, if someone told me Weiss Schnee would be living in the same apartment as me, I would have told that person to get some help. But then it actually happened."

She still couldn't believe it. Some nights, she simply woke in the middle of the night and couldn't find sleep again, daydreaming about what the spirit of serendipity had in store for her tomorrow.

"Of all the places she could have moved to, she ended up here. Everything's been up to chance. And there's something about not knowing what's going to happen next that makes this so...exciting." She smacked her lips together, after finding the right word, which still paled in its ability to describe the level of gaiety squirming inside of her. "I don't know, what do you think? Do you sense any vibe between us? Because it seems like we have a pretty good rapport going. Maybe I should try asking her out to dinner or something?"

Blake appeared slightly taken aback. "You're asking me for relationship advice?"

"Well... It'd be more like...pre-relationship advice."

"I think it's safe to say that I am terrible with both."

"No... I mean- Just tell me what you're thinking... I really need to hear from a different point of view." The perspective she received from a distracted blonde wasn't helpful at all, as her advice had all been either comments of overly optimistic encouragement or requests to reiterate the question, as she had not been listening for half the conversation.

"...I can't tell you if it will work out or not. Whether she likes you or not..." Blake shrugged. "But as someone who waited far too long to do anything about her feelings, I think you should take the leap. Don't let her slip away."

Blake's cold hand drifted away as she spoke these words, and it didn't take long for Ruby to process why. Gloom had come home, mixing in all too well with her friend's colorless visage.

The sense of cheeriness that had arisen with Weiss almost entirely faded away. As if happiness was leaking through the cracks underneath the bedroom door, Ruby's hopeful smile began to dwindle. Sullenness returned to the room, visiting them, greeting them like an old friend.

"...Are you going to listen to your own advice?" She dared to inquire, though already afraid to hear what the response would be.

"Ruby," said Blake. "Don't start."

Heaving herself up from the bed, her friend strode across the floor, creating a small distance between them. "I don't understand why she's trying to make this harder than it already is. This nonsense about not having said no... Why must she say things like that, when all I want to do is forget and move on?"

"No! Don't do that." Ruby jumped to her feet as well, approaching her older friend close enough for greater persuasion. "You know my sister. She's terrible at dealing with important stuff. Being sensitive? That was never a big thing for her. The time I told her I was kind of into girls? She bought me Playboy magazines for my fifteenth birthday. Yang is great with a lot of things, but she is not the best person to have around 'share your feelings' hour. Please, give her some more time."

"I know," replied Blake simply. "And we're very similar in that aspect. But that seems to only prove we were never meant to be. If it takes this long for her to sort things out, then it means she's searching for something that isn't there."

"But you said you took months to realize you were in love with my sister," she countered weakly. "Why can't it be like that for her?"

"Because I'm...human," breathed Blake deeply. "I'm selfish, and insecure, and no matter how much I want to try, I can't spend another year of my life waiting for something to happen."

"...So what? You're just going to give up?"

"I can't keep..." It took a moment for any sound to escape the void of the room. Blake choked on her own words before advancing, speaking even slower than before. "Sometimes, giving up is the hardest thing to do. Because maybe being in love isn't supposed to be this difficult."

Discomfort thickened inside the room, concocting a dark mixture of suffocating dread.

"I have to go now." Blake offered a cracking smile, for the sake of appearing more consoled than she truly was. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay... Bye." Ruby waved lamely, still standing inside the room as the door closed shut once more.

Left alone to the thoughts, Ruby simmered in dissipating irritation and careful cognition. There were many things she loved about her sister, but she was never fond of working as the chief staff for the blonde's relationship cleanup crew.

The young artist liked to be supportive of her sibling's decisions. Most aspects were easy to second. Reckless deeds, though hazardous to their health at times, were more or less enjoyable and usually added to making one heck of a childhood.

Yet cases of confrontations, like the one being dealt with in present day, were what Ruby despised the most. These were the occasions in which she was forced to stand in between two people she cherished very much; on the right side was her dear sister, whom she had gone puddle diving in the rain with when they were kids. On the left side was Blake, someone who she hadn't known her whole life, but someone who could have just as easily been included as a family member. The former was being clueless and insensitive. The latter was being inexpressive and stubborn.

In Ruby's honest opinion, Blake had the right to be upset. After all, being told no by an obstinate blonde was never a way to appease the heart. However, with a uniform amount of certainty, Ruby also believed that the veterinarian's hands weren't entirely clean; Blake had also made decisions that contributed to the pool of emotional chaos. So, by this point, Ruby concluded that there was no point in even choosing who was right or wrong. Both were being equally stupid.

Planting her hands imposingly on the left side of her hips, Ruby drew her mobile out of the front pockets of her pants. No matter how much she didn't wish to meddle, she certainly wasn't going to stand by, merely swallowing the bitterness of what could have been, and wasn't.

After one too many dials, she arrived at the recording beep.

"Okay, sis," she hissed into her phone, "I'm getting real sick of your wishy-washy, can't do this, can't do that, don't-know-if-I-should-do-this-or-that crap. Get a grip, woman! You are about to lose...possibly the most important person in your life. Aside from me, okay, because you will always have me. But Yang! I swear to god, if you make Blake make that kind of face again, you know, the face people make right before they cry? Yeah, if you ever do that again, I am going to be so mad at you! More mad than I already am. So quit playing chicken and tell her exactly how you feel. And if you really, really think that it won't work out, then there's nothing I can do about it, but if that's the case- Tell it to her straight and stop confusing her."

Breathing heavily into the speaker, Ruby took the following moment to allow for her own body to unwind, finishing the recording of what she hoped to be a helpful wake-up to her sister.

"...Also, pick up some milk on your way home. Bye."

* * *

Weiss Schnee spent the last moments of her life attending to an exceedingly pointless task. There was no exaggeration in the prediction of her early demise as she would much rather cut her own throat than spend another minute sealing the top ends of cheap envelopes.

To be fair, she would have finished much earlier, before noon, as she had planned to do so after washing away a night's worth of slumber. Yet her schedule had been regrettably delayed by none other than Ruby, a growing presence in her life who proved to be nothing but distracting. It took an hour for Weiss to expunge the girl out of the apartment. Yes, the conversations they shared had been recently growing more frequently, and shockingly, more enjoyable than she would like to admit. But that didn't mean she was willing to dilly-dally her life away, staring at Ruby as she rambled on with her stories of surprising interest.

Now, without her, Weiss could print in peace.

...She _could_ work in peace.

Yet the very foundations to solitude, she found, were not as enjoyable as they used to be.

Tossing the last sealed letter onto the coffee table, the heiress melted into the couch, half-expecting some sort of compensation for the work she had poured out in the past two hours. Nothing close to comfort came, however, except for an irritating buzzing noise at the door. Weiss made the sensible judgment call to ignore it; since she was relatively new to the area, no one in the lower east side of Brooklyn would be requesting her a visit. For a moment, her assumption was proven correct as the mechanical din disappeared into near silence.

Then, after a few minutes, there were three courteous knocks on the door.

Sighing deeply, the heiress stood up from her seat and walked languidly towards the entrance. Pressing her body closer to the chipped paint, she squinted through the narrow circular hole. On the other side, there stood a middle aged man. Under normal conditions, she would not have opened the door to a complete stranger. Yet something about his attire willed the heiress to do so. Soon, she was being stared down by a figure in an impeccable black suit with an ironed bowtie, wearing clean gloves and high quality cufflinks.

"Miss Weiss Schnee?" His beady eyes seemed to peer down at her and at the far distance, into the interiors of the exposed living room.

"Yes?" She found herself answering automatically, experiencing a strange flashback from her father's mansion.

"We have been ordered to deliver some of your belongings." Two more servants emerged from behind him, dressed in the same formal fashion that felt out-of-place in these dreary halls. In their hands, they were pushing a silver trolley, sturdy enough to carry several large boxes that had been sealed shut with moving tape.

"Oh." Weiss then felt extremely lacking in the ability to make an intelligible response.

"Would you like us to move them inside?"

"...Yes." She paused, before opening the door wide enough for the men to enter through. "Yes, please."

They were agile in their abilities to unload. The men shoved five large boxes into the suite, pushing them onto the floorboard of the cleaned room as the heiress remained rooted to the ground, wearing the same confounded expression.

Once they had finished, she thanked them properly, reminding herself that she had always been friendly to the help.

Nevertheless, the men barely acknowledged her existence. The tallest man, who could have been the head butler, responded by acting out another order, "Miss Winter wishes for you to contact her as soon as possible."

"W-Winter?"

"Yes," he confirmed gruffly. "Your older sister, Miss Winter Schnee."

"I know who she is," she said delicately. "But why would she-"

Her brain whirring into action, she had many questions to ask him. But assuming that the man had no more information to provide her with, she simply left it at that.

As quickly as they had arrived, the servants bowed lowly to her, out of forceful respect, and departed from the building.

Weiss stood for several long minutes, recovering from her prior shock. The man's words still echoed down the corridor, muddled as if the syllables had been dropped into the center of an abandoned well.

It took longer than expected to regain her composure. After breaking out from the daze, the first thing she found herself doing was following orders. Like magic, her hand was already drawing nearer to the phone line. Picking the telephone off from the kitchen counter, she dialed the number she had memorized by heart.

Her senses turned jittery by the sudden intrusion of her old life into her new one. Perhaps it was this reason that contributed to her loss of inhibition, calling out rapidly into the phone as soon as she heard the connecting click on the other side. "Hello? Winter?"

"...Judging by the abruptness of your call, I am assuming the packages have arrived?" The woman spoke in a calm, neutral, tone that carried no excessive intonations. Even so, the mere act of hearing her elder sister caused the heiress to become a nervous wreck.

"Y-Yes," Weiss stuttered, still not being able to believe that this was reality. "I- They've been dropped off."

"Good." There was a bit of delay, as Weiss could think of nothing smart to express. "Is that all you had to say?"

"No! No, um, no." Weiss violently shook her head, chastising herself immediately for the lack of proper social decorum that had been inculcated to her since birth. "Excuse my manners. It is a pleasure to hear from you again, dear sister. But... What compelled you to do something like this?"

Fortunately, her sister excused her edgy attitude.

"It was nothing out of the ordinary," answered Winter, in an admirably collected fashion. "After returning home for a short visit, father informed me of what happened during my period of absence. And I must say, resigning from your position at the company, packing and leaving in the middle of the night without informing him of your new whereabouts… All of your recent actions should earn you a considerable amount of admonition-"

Weiss folded inwards, physically wincing at the plague of criticisms she knew were destined to pour out.

"-and the highest of my appraisals."

Instead, her world ceased to revolve, in a way she least expected it to.

"Wait." The heiress permitted a lengthy pause, before finally crying out a puzzled, totally baffled, "What?"

"I never thought you'd have the audacity to walk out on him like that." Were her ears deceiving her, or did her sister sound impressed? "It seems as though you are much more resilient than I gave you credit for."

"Thank...you?"

"Now, I did a little investigating of my own to find your current address and phone number." Nevermind the complete violation of privacy, Weiss thought wryly. "You're an adult now, so I can't tell you what to do. It is your choice whether or not you decide to contact our father again, but I would like to remind you that no matter how victimized you feel under his reign, you are still his daughter. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

"...Of course."

"Then with that line of business out of the way..." Her sister's tone of seriousness was alleviated, only by a tiny perceivable amount. "How have you been doing? Are you well?"

"Yes! I'm... I'm fine. I'm living at a...nice apartment, with a very polite roommate." For the benefit of her own sanity, she decided to omit Ruby from the picture.

"And how have you been paying for your living expenses?"

"Well, thanks to rent control, I was able to find a pretty affordable place," said Weiss slowly. "And I've been picking off of my savings for now."

"Your bank account will not last you very long" came her sister's concern-coated warning.

"I've been working on resumes for the past few days," she mentioned quickly in defense. "I was going to send some out this afternoon."

"That is a reasonable plan," her sister approved.

Yet the lump in her throat did not vanish, the fake confidence in her voice being perceived as revolting to her own ears.

"...Actually, Winter." Perhaps it was better to spill the beans. "To be completely honest, I have no clue what I'm doing."

Regardless of the exposed vulnerability, her sister's reply was sharp and unsympathetic. Harsh, as the reality she now faced. "Don't sound so weak and hesitant. You are a Schnee. Be proud of what you are doing."

"…Right." She sucked in a mouthful of air. "Um... Winter. How- How is he?"

"He's not pleased." Her sister did not hold back with the usage of frivolous white lies. "But that shouldn't stop you from pursuing your dreams."

"My dreams..." No solid idea ran across her mind. Was she wrong in this rash decision, she asked herself, reviewing her conduct for the past week or two.

"I know you won't disappoint me." Winter softened her words towards the end. "I have work to attend to now, but I will try contacting you from time to time."

"All right." She found herself smiling, despite the odds. "It was wonderful to hear from you, Winter."

"Good luck."

 _Click._

Then she was left to soak in the ambiance of an empty apartment, minus the added presence of five dusty boxes.

Her relationship with Winter wasn't as close as the pair living across the hall, but they had a caring relationship that the heiress found satisfying. Several ages apart, the generation gap constructed a sequence of formality in between them that couldn't be easily broken like a bad habit.

Her sister was cold, inflexible, and for lack of a better word, quite intimidating. Yet, like all the Schnee family members, Winter was merely discreet in her methods of kindred affection.

When Weiss was younger, her older sister had always been her target for idolization. She was strong, intelligent, and most of all, independent, never afraid to speak her thoughts, even to their father. This persona was exemplified quite clearly when Winter declined to take over the family company, enlisting instead to join the military.

Never underestimate a lieutenant, thought the heiress, feeling both glad and tense after the conversation.

Slouching down in exhaustion, she started to inwardly calculate how long it would take to organize her belongings, mentally picturing how it would be possible to fit everything inside this much smaller living arrangement.

"Whoa, what's with all this junk?"

The sudden intrusion disturbed her greatly.

Nerves reaching their maximum capacity, Weiss jerked her head towards the source. Clutching her heart, which had skyrocketed in pulse, she managed to be soothed slightly after standing witness to two large pools of silver.

"Hi," Weiss addressed the girl, who was standing outside the door, curiously peering in.

The heiress amused herself by studying her without appearing to do so; Ruby was wearing jogging pants, a cute red hood over her head, and big round headphones over her ears. Grinning slightly, the young artist removed the musical contraption off her ears to have them resting around her thin pale neck. Weiss made no other response, causing the other girl to gesture curiously at the mess on the apartment floor.

"Oh, this?" She glanced at the boxes near her feet. "I've been sent some of my things from my previous estate."

"That's cool," commented Ruby, then remained there, staring at her expectantly.

"Would you like to help?" She wished that she had held onto her tongue tighter. If so, she may have been able to stop herself from making such a desperate request.

"Yeah, sure." Ruby smiled warmly as she entered. "I would love to help."

Nevertheless, when her neighbor walked into the room, Weiss noticed with a frown that her steps weren't as shamelessly joyous as usual.

"Here," said the younger girl, after opening up a drawer from the nearby kitchen chest. "This is where Blake keeps her blade thingy."

Ruby took out a mini utility knife and passed it down to her. Weiss, who was crouching next to one of the sealed packages, received it with a small thank you.

"I think that's the only one she has..." she muttered. Not being able to find another tool, the young girl - to the heiress's horror - resorted to using a large kitchen knife, which she grabbed rather carelessly out of its grooved stand. From the corner of her eyes, Weiss watched nervously as Ruby slashed at the taped box.

"Be careful with that," she rebuked, out of pure worry. "I don't want to mop blood off the floor."

"Huh?" Ruby said blankly, settling the knife on the ground after having made enough gashes to force open the lid by force. "Oh yeah. It's fine. No worries."

"You look peeved."

"It's nothing-" The girl grunted, then with impressive strength, ripped the package open. "Ugh. It's just that everything's so messed up right now. Like, this thing with my sister and Blake. I mean, you don't know them well enough to care, but man, if you did know, then you would be as annoyed as I am at the two of them. It's like you're watching your favorite tv show, and you're rooting for something to happen, but the writer's being a big bully."

"Are they…together?" Weiss asked, feeling strangely included as she learned about the conflict between her glum roommate and the perky blonde across the hall.

"I wish! That's the problem. They won't accept the fact that they lo-" The sentence ended abruptly. Pupils dilated slightly, Ruby appeared horrified at the idea that she had let such a private truth slip. "Oh... Sorry. Are you uncomfortable with the idea of...um...?"

This garnered a rather cold, indignant glare from the heiress. "How judgmental do you think I am?"

"No! No, I didn't mean it like that!" Ruby shouted, with visible apprehension. "I was being...cautious."

There was an uncomfortable draft drifting inside the room. Weiss simply nodded at the girl's overly dramatic reaction, hiding the aching feeling inside her chest. Ruby seemed to space out for a few more seconds before choosing to not-so subtly change the subject.

"Wow," she said nervously, reaching into the box and taking out a few thick stacks. "A lot of books! You read as much as Blake on vacation."

"Reading is a productive activity."

"Yeah. Ditto." Ruby bobbed her little head. "Man, half these books though… I haven't even heard of them."

"We have different tastes in books."

"Well, I guess that's fair, since I only read fantasies. Blake owns a lot of that too, but there's a lot of medical journals in her book case that I would not want to get too close to."

"Mhm."

"Oh my god." Ruby drew her brows together. "Is this our old high school yearbook?"

"Excuse me?" The effect of the discovery was quite jarring. Weiss flipped her head around, facing the direction in which Ruby was scanning a medium-sized book in her hands. "Why is that in there...?"

She didn't even remember purchasing one, that part of her adolescence having been purposefully blocked out.

"Awesome! I lost my copy ages ago!" Ruby brightened up remarkably from her finding. "Funny story. When Yang and I moved to this city, as a joke, my sister bought this small safe thingy that kept a lot of our childhood belongings. But it got lost somewhere along the move and now we have no memories! Okay, I guess it isn't a _funny_ story. It's more of a bittersweet story. But yeah… Can I look at this?"

"Go ahead," consented Weiss, deciding that the news wasn't worth her time. The yearbook must have been stuck between her shelf, and her sister's servants, mindlessly carrying out their tasks, would have simply packed anything that were in sight.

"Hey, I'm on this page!" Ruby laughed gleefully, pointing down at a picture of herself bending over a plate of whipped cream. "This was when we had that pie eating contest."

"We had a pie eating contest?"

"Yeah! And I would have won too, if Nora Valkyrie hadn't been so hungry," added Ruby in low grumble. "I swear, that girl's stomach was an endless pit."

Flipping through another couple of pages, she continued her commentaries of recollection. Weiss realized that she had stopped moving assorted plates out of the box labelled 'fragile.' Instead, she couldn't help but watch as such vivid expressions presented themselves on Ruby's visage, like a projector portraying an infinite number of distinct slides.

"Oh! And here's Penny, dancing the robot at our high school prom. It sucks that she had to move away." A small, longing smile reached the corner of her lips. "There's a lot of people in here I wouldn't mind seeing again. Like you."

A blush made its way onto her face, which Weiss promptly ignored. "Are you done yet?"

"Nope! I haven't seen the back," claimed Ruby, now having arrived at the final blank pages. "I must have written in yours, right? Hold on. I don't remember what I wrote."

Weiss allowed for her to search; the girl was perusing unnecessarily carefully through the signatures, which were already much more sparse in comparison to the ones written on anyone else's yearbook.

"Oh, here I am!" Finding her spot, she read out happily. "Dear Weiss, it was nice to get to know you this year. I feel like if we spent some more time together we could have easily been BFFs! Keep in touch! Love, Ruby. P.S. Just in case you want to talk, my number is-"

Ruby became flushed, as if she was finally realizing the insinuations of the content. "Uh, yeah. That was pretty lame, right? High school? Haha, hormones. Periods. Girls-"

The awkward listing stopped there as Ruby cleared her throat. Extremely embarrassed, she appeared ready to shut the book when a lone sheet of out-of-context paper dropped out from the sides.

"What's this?" Ruby wondered, picking it up from the ground to read. "It looks like a to-do list. Is it yours?"

Weiss shrugged, not believing it to be of any significance. "Maybe."

"Chews loudly when she eats, pronounces supposedly as supposably..." Ruby read out loud once again, though the heiress did not ask for her to share. "Pops her gum, likes to cling to people too much... Wow, who is this girl? She must have annoyed you a whole lot if you were angry enough to write about her."

The complaints felt awfully familiar, thought Weiss, enough to certainly make her glance up again in meditation. The bullet points, which she could vaguely see through the translucent paper, were written in neat cursive printing.

It was completely unfair how a train could derail from its tracks without triggering any set of alarms. Red flags were flashing before her eyes as Weiss naturally dropped the object in her hands, instinctively moving forward instead to the piece of parchment.

"Ruby." Her blood ran cold. "Don't read that."

But it was too late, as the girl had already made it to the final sentences of the list.

"…Talks too much about pointless things that don't matter, doesn't pay attention in class but still manages to get good grades..." Weiss watched in horror as the girl's gaze turned slightly fazed while reading the last statement in a meek whisper. "...Made Valedictorian over me."

The pleasantness was long since over, spitting her out into cold open space.

"...Weiss? I know this is a long shot but..." Hurt, silver eyes locked themselves upon her and suddenly the heiress felt the walls enclose and fold on top of her. Caught like a rabbit, with its tiny foot caught in a metal contraption, she could not move nor speak as Ruby asked the dreaded question: "Is this list about me?"

Now, how did she phrase this and still remain a lady?

Karma's a total bitch.

* * *

"...Also, pick up some milk on your way home. Bye."

Yang lost track of how many times she had re-listened to the recording of her sister's angry message. Each time she clicked on the play button, and sat dismally on the vacant swing of a deserted playground, it had a strangely cathartic effect on her. Maybe she was the type of person who really needed to be yelled at every now and then to stay in line.

"Hey."

A voice, which caused her much vexation, pulled her out of her inner monologue.

Distracted, Yang gave Sun the benefit of one glare before moving her sulking stares back onto the grass beneath her feet. He was standing provokingly close to her, wearing a thin winter coat eminently suitable for the frigid atmosphere of January.

"Did you get an angry message from Ruby too?" He asked bluntly, after glimpsing at the phone in her hands. "I got mine yesterday."

In response, she cast him a look of reproach.

"Okay, you are _this_ close to becoming the official neighborhood stalker." She drew with her hand, a very thin line in the air. Her patience had been tested enough, being a spring that had been stretched too far.

"Geez, relax. Your sister told me where you'd probably be," he explained his clairvoyance in a rather indifferent manner. "Skipping out on work again?"

"I got somebody covering my shift," she mumbled a reply.

"I'm sure you do."

Taking the quietude as an invitation to sit, Sun took the vacant swing next to her, his legs dangling off the seat as well.

Civility was being called for, to which Yang unwillingly agreed, believing that there was no need to spell this out as a 'who was a bigger ass to whom' contest anymore. They were all grownups here.

"So, I told Blake I still loved her."

Though it didn't change the fact that Yang still wanted to rip his little head off.

"She didn't say yes," he added, reckoning that this was the reason for her fuming silence. "Do you at least want to hear what happened?"

"Not really," she replied stiffly, her knuckles turning white.

"Yang. She said no because she's in love with you." Her head hadn't rotated to face him, but she could tell that the man's vibrant eyes were glaring intensely at her right side, jabbing stimulating words into her exposed ear. "And you're looking all sad right now because you're not with her. Have you still not figured that out?"

"I did. I did figure it out, Sun," she said bitingly. "Now could you please leave me alone?"

"No. I'm the only one around right now," he retorted stubbornly. "And, believe it or not, I can relate to what you're going through. So you might as well try talking to me."

"I can't say it," Yang snapped out irascibly.

"Oh, come on." He immediately started to whine. "Before all this shit happened, we used to be friends too. Just forget about me being a selfish douche for a second and tell me what the hell your problem is."

"No, I mean I literally can't say it," the blonde clarified through gritted teeth. "That's the problem. I can't seem to say those... those three words properly and convince her, or Ruby, or anybody else in my life that I mean it."

She slumped her head, agonizing over her own tiny emotional range. "Why? Why is it so hard to say it? I've known her for so long. I've said it to her a thousand times when we were friends. But now that I want it to mean something- I can't! The words just won't come out. And it's too late to change her mind now."

"...Have you never said it to somebody before?"

"I've never been in a serious relationship before!" Yang groaned, lifting her neck high enough to gaze pitifully up at him. "I never wanted to be with someone who could potentially mean something this big in my life. Because what happens once I do that? Things will move too fast... And I might end up loving that person too much, more than I can possibly handle. Then what happens to me if they leave?"

"I never knew you'd be the type of person to have abandonment issues." There was sincere shock residing in his remark.

Yang accepted his disbelief. She was a master at concealing her doubts and her insecurities; lying came easy to her, as easy as counting to one, two, three.

But if Sun had known her well enough, he would have learned that she was never the woman of confidence she made herself to be. That during the span of a short but eventful twenty five years, she had been left behind, disappointed by people who should have been bound to her by the obligation of love, at least by the sense of responsibility it endorsed.

The bottom line was it hadn't been any lack of feelings for Blake that kept her tied to the shore. No, it had been the surplus of it. The thought that such strong emotions could grow to an extraneous amount, and that her entire life would be consumed by the presence of someone else. And that she would love this person to such an extreme extent that something terrible would inevitably happen; Blake would grow sick of her pranks, her annoying antics, her jokes, her puns, her everything. She was afraid to think that Blake would always be on her mind, scared to wonder if the injustice of her old antagonist, which she called life, would be capable of taking the girl away from her. If anything like that were to happen, what sort of formidable chasm of darkness would take her place?

Ultimately, that was the blonde's greatest fear: to be left alone.

"...What if we break up?"

A tone of redolent terror. Her wavering glance fluctuated between a stray flower on the ground and the blond hairline of the male sitting by her side. Sun lingered patiently, listening to her breathing with a mask of uncompromising severity.

"What if you don't?" The words created a thunderous hollowness in her ears. He had stated it, in such a matter-of-fact way that the sheer bluntness of it left her bereft of reason. "What if you fall in love, survive through the corny Valentine's Day candy hearts and the annoying lovey-dovey nicknames, get over the 'You hang up. No, you hang up' phase of the relationship, jump over all your hurdles and your doubts to find yourself living with the person who makes you the happiest person in the world? Are you seriously going to pass that up just because you're too scared of taking the first step?"

By shutting her eyes, Yang attempted to absorb the man's conviction.

"Look. I kicked myself for months after I let her go." He sighed convulsively, as if kindness was striving to gain ascendancy over passionate instinct. "Don't be an idiot like me. There's no need to think so much about it. The only thing that matters is her. And you have to hold onto the things that matter to you, Yang."

"...But what am I supposed to say to her?" She posed weakly. Only the element of self-defeat seemed to be involved in her dynamic. "We fought. We fought like we never fought before..."

"Hmm," he said, merely to fill up space. "And I'm guessing that it didn't go so well?"

"Ruby was right. I was jealous," she admitted grudgingly. The more she spoke, the stronger she established a correlation between progress and guilt. "I always thought I knew her best. When I found out she could have been more intimate with you... I just- I got so angry."

"It's a normal reaction. She'll understand if you explain this to her." He cracked a teasing smile. "I mean, I'd be jealous too if my crush had been with a hot piece of ass like me."

A short laugh escaped the blonde's mouth without any preponderance.

"You know, Sun..." She murmured. "You're not a complete idiot."

He returned the mixed insult with a small smirk. "That's a compliment if I ever heard one."

"And...I'm sorry things didn't work out for you and Blake."

"Are you really?" This earned her a face of mocking doubt.

"...A little," she answered truthfully. "The part of me that likes you anyway."

"Well, no need to be so broken up about it," responded Sun, scoffing as he stared at the toe box of his dirt-laced sneakers.

"I'm leaving Brooklyn soon," he said briefly.

He sat there, as if he hadn't dropped a large verbal bomb. It was his utter calmness that stirred her even more. She rounded on him, lilac eyes opened to their fullest capacity. There was something that had to be done at that precise moment, something better stated than a simple, stupefied "huh?"

"I'm moving." There wasn't any trace of regret or pain on his countenance while he made this radical announcement. "Later this month, actually. I got a great job offer in New Jersey and I decided to take it."

"You're not leaving because of...?" She stopped herself, seeing him engrossed as he sat there with some thought of his own.

"I'm leaving because I want to leave. So there's no need to look at me like that," Sun corrected her, keeping a firm grip on the metal rings of the swing. "I just didn't want to be that guy anymore, that guy who's stuck in the past, obsessed over the good old days, not being able to move onto anything else. Every time I'm with Blake, I regress back to when I was in high school. And I don't want that. I want to move forward. And with all that's happened, I think I finally got my sense of closure."

The reign of chaos had subdued and the blonde was forced to deal with the news as it finally sank into her brain. Such a rapture made her forget entirely what she had been about to say.

"I'd appreciate it if you told Blake for me," he said quietly while swaying back and forth in the air, his long legs trailing the ground beneath his sneakers. "She and I haven't exactly been vocal to each other ever since...that night."

Throwing a sideways grin at her, he forcibly laughed. "I'll be rooting for you two. But if you hurt her, I will come back to murder you."

"...Deal." Yang felt her cheeks be strained as a smile feebly returned to her lips. It had been a while since she felt hope, the emotion having been on a long sabbatical.

"I'm going to go talk to her." With momentum, she jumped off of her seat, landing perfectly onto the weed-filled plain. "Her favorite flowers were daisies, right?"

"What am I? A saint?" He retorted in an extremely sarcastic manner, tossing a deprecating hand towards her.

"Right, sorry." She felt a bead of sweat form at the back of her neck. "Thanks for listening, Sun."

He bobbed his head in silence.

"And tell Blake yourself." Yang waited for him to raise his chin and meet her gaze before finishing her wishes. "She would like it...if you told her yourself. And she would probably like it if you guys stayed friends."

"...Thanks."

She smiled, inclined her head, and then departed.

The breeze was beginning to freshen.


	31. Running Back to You (Part 7)

"Weiss?"

With the call of her name, twice in one minute, the heiress felt her eyelids flutter uncontrollably. Blinking in a furious manner, she forced her attention onto the colors of captivating silver, which at the moment appeared more daunting to her than ever before.

"Um..." She said unintelligibly, attempting too hard to delay the questioning. "No. That's not about you."

"Oh... Okay." There was a slight motion of sagging from Ruby's shoulders. "It's just that... I didn't know our school had two Valedictorians."

It was an innocent jab, one that was surely not meant to maim, but merely to test the waters before proceeding with a full-on dive. The look that Ruby wore was one of utter precaution. With a similar level of tension, Weiss was afraid that her composure would slip soon, leading the other girl to undoubtedly suspect that she was currently lying through her teeth. The room grew stuffy as if the uncomfortable effect of dishonesty materialized into existence in the form of a thick yet invisible fog.

"How strange," Weiss played the fool. "Actually, I'm not even sure if that's mine. It appears quite foreign to me."

"Really?" There was a faint trace of disbelief in the artist's voice. Weiss took relief from the fact that she couldn't detect any forms of certifiable anger...yet. Trying to be inconspicuous, the heiress leaned forward, hoping to slip the note away without the girl noticing but Ruby didn't seem to provide her with much opportunities.

"But this is your hand writing," commented Ruby, endowing the paper with another one of her sideways glances.

"How do you know what my handwriting looks like?"

"Because? Because I- I see you write memos all the time, like on little post-it notes and the front cover of binders and..." Ruby recovered soon enough, getting back on track as her fingers clenched tighter onto the piece of parchment. The rosy blush on her cheeks wasn't nearly strong enough to distract Weiss from the timbre of sincere hurt encroaching into the conversation. "It's a simple question. Did you write this list or not?"

"Listen," the heiress started to reason with her. "This is not what you think."

"Oh yeah?" The ends of her brows rose by several inches. "And what am I thinking right now?"

"That... I wrote this list about you."

A hefty pause intervened the interrogation. Appearing to be harboring a surplus of words at the ceiling of her own mouth, Ruby's lips were pressed together so hard that they were starting to pale. Once they were able to break apart, they allowed for only two things to escape in a meek whisper. "Didn't you?"

"...Maybe I did," Weiss answered shortly, coughing up the truth with a tone that was obviously never meant to be used with her outside voice.

Ruby sank. There was no other way of describing the resulting outcome of her claim except for that particular verb, which could have easily been taken in its most literal sense - the girl before her outwardly deflated, the vivid sparkle in her eyes and the color from the entirety of her face fading a little too fast.

"Right. Okay then," murmured Ruby, abandoning the list then choosing to stand on her feet. "Glad we got this straightened out then."

"Hold on a minute." Weiss frowned. "This is just a big misunderstanding. You are taking this completely out of context."

"No, no. It's fine. There's no need to explain yourself," she muttered quickly and quietly. "God, I am so stupid, harassing you like this all the time. I'll get out of your hair."

Then, before any registry of action could take its place in the heiress's mind, Ruby was already half-way out the door.

"What?" reacted Weiss, albeit a little too late. "Ruby, wait!"

Yet the petite girl did exactly the opposite; she ran across the narrow corridor, bee-lining into her own apartment suite. The door clunked loudly behind her reddish strands of hair, the volume of the closing action being on the verge of a slam. Grabbing the cause of it all, and stuffing it inside her shorts pocket, Weiss darted off as well, following the dust trail.

"Ruby?" She pounded instead of knocked. "Hello?"

At the prolonged absence of response, she clenched her knuckles even tighter, repeating the loud gesture, less eloquently than she would normally behave. "Ruby, come on. I look ridiculous standing out here."

"Ruby's not here right now," a sulky tone drawled from the other side, its pitch much tamer and low profile than it was five minutes ago.

"Then who did I see run out of my apartment?"

"That wasn't her," she cried out. "That was some crazy chick who roams these halls. Her first name is Go and her last name is Away!"

"...Clever," said Weiss tersely. "Now open the door."

The subsequent pause seemed to last a lifetime.

Perhaps impatience wasn't the best method used to deal with someone who was upset. However, to be fair, the heiress never did have any real life experiences coping with apologies, especially situations in which she wasn't at the receiving end for them. Now, arguably, they weren't in fourth grade anymore. Getting this distressed over an old note, however mean it may have been, didn't seem quite as necessary.

Weiss was sure that if she left the girl to cool off on her own and simply explained the situation at a later period in time, the effort of her excuse would be enough to return their relationship back to status quo: friendly yet not crossing any personal boundaries. Nevertheless, whenever the matter involved Ruby, sometimes the only solution she could concoct was one that caused her to be impetuous.

"Ruby. Please. Just... Let me talk to you."

It was the audible manifestation of this very complex inner decision that prompted the young artist to open the passage door, even if it was only by a quarter of an inch.

A small creaking sound reached the heiress's ears; silver eyes met with her in a largely wary manner, and during the couple seconds of contact, Ruby seemed to at least realize that she was being wholeheartedly earnest in her wishes to make up.

"Fine," said Ruby, opening the door widely then leaning on its frame. Her limp posture managed to accentuate both her pain and her anger, causing the girl to appear small yet intimidating, with each contradictory emotion being presented in an immensely convincing and comprehensive fashion. "You can start by explaining why you wrote that mean letter about me."

Weiss swallowed first, in attempt to assuage her anxiety.

"It was- It was never meant to be read by other people." Especially you, she thought to herself.

"Oh good. Here I was worried you were posting these online." Ruby skillfully rolled her eyes. "Silly me."

"You don't understand. It was never written with cruel intentions," the heiress groaned, frustration welling up inside.

"No, I _do_ understand," stated Ruby as she dismally shook her head. "I get it, Weiss. I know that we weren't the closest of friends in high school. We never talked that much. We never bonded. We didn't have any slumber parties together nor did we exchange secret handshakes. I totally get it. So there's no need for you to say more."

The girl uncrossed her arms and pitifully stared at the pattern of the floor.

"If you didn't like me _that_ much, you should have just said something. I wouldn't have bothered you. I wouldn't have thought that we could be-" Ruby stopped in her tracks, her pupils shifting left and right like a cornered herbivore. "Nevermind."

"But I _don't_ hate you," Weiss pressed on. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Please, stop taking this the wrong way."

There was nothing particularly friendly in her silver orbs anymore. Even so, the heiress could not redirect her scrutiny elsewhere. Staring deeply into the darkness of her irises, Weiss could have sworn she was observing deeply enough to the point where she could identify her own reflection. Captured in the younger one's eyes, the heiress saw the desperation of her own actions. And though she was remarkably startled by the way she was behaving – urgent and clingy – she could not find it in herself to stop.

The heiress thought the situation over, slipping into Ruby's pair of runners for a moment.

"...If I were you right now, I would be furious and I would not want to hear a single excuse. But I'm hoping that you are a bigger person than I am and that you would at least be willing to listen."

Ruby kept her hand fixed on the handle, though for a second, there was a gradual change in her aura that pointed towards temporary submission. Taking advantage of the lowered guards, Weiss took a bold step forward. "May I come in?"

"...If you insist," Ruby eventually mumbled in reply.

"I do," she said, closing in another few inches. Relenting with a soft sigh, the young artist stretched out her right arm, gesturing for her to come in if she must. Weiss was quick to follow through. "Thank you."

"You...cleaned," the heiress immediately noticed, aware of how the living room and kitchen had become freer of tangible chaos.

"Yeah, well. It seemed like a good idea at the time," grunted Ruby as she closed the door behind them. The heiress nodded out of good social decorum, and as she was taught to do so, politely stood in the foyer (if she could even call the empty space by the door a foyer) until she was properly invited inside.

Ruby didn't seem to understand her obsession with decorum, as she simply strode past her, walking towards the kitchen counter whilst throwing her an odd glance. After a minute of unbearable silence, Weiss asked rather nervously, "So... Can I sit?"

"Um, yeah," the girl said this in a way that seemed to be saying, "Why the hell not?"

The heiress nodded in compliance and gracefully walked forward, deciding to take a seat at a cleared table next to the kitchen.

"Do you...want a soda?" offered Ruby slowly.

"No. I don't really enjoy carbonated drinks," she answered honestly, leaving the young artist to nod awkwardly by the fridge.

"Then... Water?"

"No. I'm fine," the heiress declined politely, wishing not to be a hindrance.

"...Okay, you have to let me get you something. I can't stand here and do nothing," Ruby murmured, playing with the tangled wires of her headphones. "Unless, you know, you want to start talking sooner or later."

"...Water," accepted Weiss. "Water will be good."

"Great," said Ruby, though she sounded like she didn't mean it. Opening the refrigerator door, she bent down to pull out an unopened water bottle. Opening up the plastic lid with a twist of her wrist, she placed it upon the round table, directly in front of the heiress's waiting two hands. Afterwards, without having an excuse to continue standing, Ruby reluctantly took a seat in front of the heiress, being still hurt and quite antsy herself. "Look... Weiss, I was just overreacting. I really don't mind what you wrote about me, so you really don't need to do this."

That was indeed what she was claiming, but that never meant that those spoken words were true.

"Yes, I do. So here is what I wish to propose," started the heiress, taking a piece of paper towel off from the kitchen counter and grabbing an astray ink pen rolling around beside the sink basin. "I am going to pass you this piece of napkin and this pen and I ask for you to draw on it as I talk to you."

"Uh... Sure." Ruby accepted the terms in a bemused daze. "Wait. Why do I have to draw something again?"

"Because I really want to explain the origin of the note and I can't do the task properly with you staring at me the whole time," she spelled out her insane justification.

"...Fine," huffed Ruby as she removed the lid of the pen. Weiss waited until the girl begrudgingly set its tip onto the napkin, creating a slight rip in the beginning before starting anew at a different corner.

"Okay, okay, I'm doing it. See?" Ruby checked with her as she finished a couple of curved lines. "Now, you go."

"All right," breathed Weiss. "Well, to begin with... It is true. I didn't like you very much in high school. All the things I wrote on that list... There were many attributes about you that bothered me."

"You know apologizing is definitely not your forte."

"Let me finish and keep drawing. _Please_ ," urged Weiss, wanting to not sound too commanding. Grumbling indistinctly, Ruby returned her gaze onto the flattened piece of paper towel. "Yes, I was bothered by your annoying quirks. But that wasn't the entirety of my judgment."

"Prior to ever talking to you, I used to watch you. And not in a creepy, indecent sort of manner, if that's what you're imagining," Weiss added hurriedly at the look of concerned suspicion dawning on the other's visage. "I mean I've noticed you. To be completely honest, it was impossible not to notice you, Ruby. After all, you were always the center of attention."

The young artist coughed in embarrassment, conveying doubt and modesty through her facial features as she listened and drew with lingering patience. The curved lines on the napkin were turning into full ovals now.

"When I first met you, as in held a proper conversation with you, it was when we saw each other in that cramped art room."

The day visualized itself in her mind, as clear as it had always been. Weiss had arrived early for her morning class, on the first day after summer vacation. She had opted on walking around the campus, surveying empty classrooms and lockers, enjoying a moment of peace before the halls were flooded with several hundred noisy students.

The heiress had come across a door in one of her rounds, and this one hadn't been locked. Light was pouring through the cracks and the heiress had entered the room out of pure curiosity. It was the vacant art room, located on the third floor of their school; most of its space had been cleaned spotless during the break, except for one of the desks, where a large canvass of a sunflower stood on its own. Weiss remembered deliberately walking towards it, lowering her gaze onto it, scanning the careless strokes near the edges of its vivid yellow petals when the door behind her opened suddenly. A young girl zoomed inside, holding a paint brush in one hand and a half-eaten bagel in the other.

"During that encounter, I realized my assumptions of you were correct."

The girl had doubled back for a minute, evidently shocked by the fact that she was joined by the most unlikely human presence. There was an yelping of an extremely fidgety "Hi!" and the heiress, fighting the grogginess of the morning as well as the emptiness of her own stomach, had churned up a greeting no stronger than a deeply blasé hello.

Stuffing the remainder of the bagel into her mouth, her fellow classmate had outstretched her empty hand towards her, in a style that was most clumsy and intrusive. On that random autumn morning, the heiress received her first-ever impromptu introduction. And it had only taken her a few short seconds to decipher the right name behind the cream cheese coated muffles.

"...But there was one thing I never could have imagined coming true." Weiss experienced a pleasant warmth run through her body. "I ended up liking you, despite having resented you for so long."

The pen stopped in mid-air, frozen solid over the piece of creased paper towel. The owner of it glanced up with an expression of emotional torment. "Why were you so bent on hating me?"

"To put it mildly... I was jealous." At the disclosure of pure bafflement on Ruby's countenance, the heiress clarified for good measure. "Of you. I was jealous of you."

"What? Me? Why? I'm- I'm a-" Completely flustered by the unexpected confession of envy, the girl began to stammer. "W-Why?"

She wasn't entitled to say much after that. This was a regular stuffy old apartment in the downtown streets of East Brooklyn. There was no oath hanging over her head. And the truth had never been harder to admit during the accumulation of all her prior existing years. A few minutes, though as few as possible, were inevitably consumed until Weiss finally made a formal decision.

"Because... You make it hard for anyone to frown when they ever set their eyes upon you." This statement only seemed to confuse the artist even more. "You were always so happy. You seemed to do exactly what you wanted to do and you still got your way with everything."

"And... You're saying you didn't?" Ruby cracked a nervous smile at the features of offense transpiring on the heiress. "I'm sorry! It's just very hard to believe that someone like you had anything to worry about."

"Everyone thinks that the grass is always greener on the other side."

"Yeah, but you're _you_." Ruby pointed out naturally. "You've literally got every door in the world opened for you."

"I do not," growled Weiss through clenched teeth.

"Of course you do!" The girl let out a short laugh while wearing a look of stunning astonishment. "A lot of people would kill to have the life that you have!"

"What if I never wanted that life?" Weiss finally cracked, hissing angrily towards the defenseless artist. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't want life merely handed to me on a silver platter?"

"But-"

"Forget it," Weiss snapped bitingly, pushing back on her chair, prepared to storm off. "Obviously my troubles are much too trivial for your concern."

"No! No, I'm not saying that! I care about what you think!" Ruby took her by the wrist and forced her to stay immobile. "Okay. You're right. Maybe I don't understand why you're so angry with your seemingly perfect life. But I can at least try to empathize if you tell me what the problem is."

It took another minute for the young artist to stare her down into the uncomfortable wooden chair. Ruby cleared her throat, anxiously circling her pen around with her right hand. "If it'll make you feel better, I can start drawing again?"

"That isn't necessary. Just... Answer this for me," sighed Weiss, before deciding to get too abrasive. "Did you know that you wanted to become an artist when you were growing up?"

"Nope... Not really. Dreams change." Ruby dropped her ink pen, the napkin doodle being laid completely forgotten with a semi-finished rose remaining on its ruffled texture. "Actually, my dad says that when I was ten I used to tell him I wanted to be a superhero or something. Went through this whole phase of wearing a red cape and all. Yang had to break it to me that I had no talent with a sword. Apparently, a lot of tears were involved."

"...When I was nine, I knew that when I grew up, I wanted to be a very important and successful person," Weiss recounted, folding her arms carefully until they were centered into a tight lock around her chest. "I would attend one of those prominent Ivy League schools, and then I would take up a fancy office at my father's company after graduation."

"Of course. Because that's what all nine year old kids rave about in their diaries." Receiving a cold glare in response to her quip, Ruby flailed her two hands in the air, standing by her innocent joke. "What? It's funny! No kid thinks like that!"

"Well, I dare say, I was fairly distinguishable from the crowd." Weiss grunted. "I was told from birth that this was what I wanted for myself. It only took me a few years to figure out that it wasn't my dream at all. It was what my father wanted. The reality is... I never had one."

"Had what?"

"A dream," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Um..." Ruby, for a moment, appeared to be stuck in serious thought. "I guess you could try listening to Martin Luther King's speech for some inspiration?"

"Can we be adults here?"

"I am!" She laughed a bit flippantly. "Seriously, what is the big deal?"

"Ruby, I grew up with huge expectations," stated Weiss, trying hard to keep control over the malice in her voice. "I never had the freedom to do what I wanted to do and enjoy it. I always yearned for approval from my father, and while doing so, I've forgotten what it's like to be...me, rather than just being a perfectly obedient daughter."

The girl in front of her frowned, keeping her fingers busy by folding the corners of her scribbled napkin. "But I thought you weren't working at the Schnee Dust Company anymore."

"You are correct." The heiress nodded stiffly. "I am no longer involved in business with my father."

"So? That doesn't sound like you're being a perfectly obedient daughter?" Ruby vocalized her thoughts with a dubious question mark.

"...Yes. I left his company by my own free will. It was my ultimate choice of rebellion. The first and last act of rebellion I will probably ever manage to do," agreed Weiss at the beginning, though her confession grew fainter in the process. "But I did it...purely out of spite. I did it solely to prove to him that I _could_ do it, that I could leave him and make it on my own. And yet I'm unemployed. I am living under somebody else's roof. Most importantly, I have no clue what I am to do with my life."

She was careful not to look Ruby in the eye anymore. "How will I ever prove my worth to him now?"

"Weiss..."

"Are you disappointed in me?" She asked, still managing to talk over the girl despite speaking in a low, vulnerable manner. "You are, aren't you?"

"Weiss. I think you're awesome," Ruby affirmed gently. "Leaving your dad's company, wanting to live a life of your own? That qualifies as awesome."

At the sorry lack of reply, the artist's stare softened, oozing out an abundant supply of tenderness. "Hey, where's the Weiss Schnee I knew in high school? She was always so confident and brave and focused with her work? A lot of people thought she was some stuck-up brat who lived off of her daddy's money. But to me, she always seemed more than that."

"There's no need to lie for my benefit," retorted the heiress, refusing to accept any form of pity.

"I'm being honest here." Ruby was quite adamant with her position. "And you're being overly critical of yourself as usual. I remember you hated messing up in front of others."

"What's wrong with wanting to be perfect?" Weiss remarked dryly. "Didn't you ever want to do that? Didn't you ever want to please your parents?"

"Yeah. Of course." The girl shrugged. "But... It's not that hard to satisfy my dad. He just wants me to be happy. And I'm sure yours does too."

"He does," she muttered, in a somewhat-scornful tone. "But he seems to adhere to a very different definition of happiness."

"Then it's time for Papa Schnee to make a few sacrifices."

"Then I'm being ungrateful."

"Ugh," Ruby groaned with obvious fatigue. "You are so not working with me here."

"I'm sorry." Weiss respired deeply from her lungs. "It's just that- I want to please him so badly but I can't."

"Maybe it hasn't hit him yet that he has this...totally amazing daughter he should be proud of already. Or he might already think that but he's really bad at showing it." Ruby gave vent to a prolonged whistle mid-thought. "Or... Maybe it means that you should try extra hard and make him see that you are really, really happy and that he should be happy for you too."

"...Isn't this ironic?" The heiress grimaced. "Here you are trying to cheer me up after how horribly I've treated you."

"Well, actually," she said, grinning with compassion, "the only thing I don't understand is why you've been trying so hard to be unhappy."

The integrity of her words was rather shocking.

"...I don't understand," she remarked, feeling suddenly completely tired out. "Why are you being so kind? I thought you were mad at me."

"Okay. Obviously having family trouble and going through an early midlife crisis doesn't justify you writing a mean note about me," spoke Ruby with little petulance. "But you're sad, so I'll let that slide for now."

The note, the list which had started this candid rhapsody, was still stuffed inside her pocket. And the parcel, no matter how thin, felt as if it was growing heavier in weight.

"...There's more," murmured Weiss, peaking uneasily up into the ceiling. "I wasn't planning on showing this to you. However..."

Carefully, she drew the mushed piece of paper out of the folds of her clothing, onto the surface of the table. "I think you should read the rest of it."

"There was more?" Her tone was redolent of heartfelt horror. "You're telling me that the list didn't end after eighteen very, very long bullet points?"

"Just read the back."

Very reluctantly, Ruby took the paper into her hands. With a disgruntled expression, she unfolded it from the crinkled ball form and flattened it out. Giving the front page of it only a few seconds glimpse, the artist flipped the list over onto a much more blank side, completely empty except the presence of one sentence: "Why I should not be falling in love with Ruby Rose."

There was thunderous silence as the young artist halted, her brain whirring, trying to comprehend the meaning behind the phrase she had unsuspectingly read out loud. Meanwhile, the heiress bit down on her tongue, regretting with a deep blush that she had revealed too much, though less would hardly have been sufficient.

"Um..." She audibly gulped. "Do my eyes deceive me or is this the L-word I'm reading?"

"It's not a curse word," Weiss retaliated, trying to remain stoic with tremendous effort. "There's no need to censor anything."

"So... So you, um, you used to...like-like me?"

The secret was out, the veil had been lifted, the whistle had been blown, and the cat was completely free to roam out of the bag. Whatever cliche, banal, overused, hackneyed, run-of-the-mill saying it was that could come to her mind, Weiss would have believed the sagacity of any one of them if they did, in fact, engender the satisfaction the truth claimed to bring.

So far, she hadn't experienced a single moment of relief.

Moreover, if she were to cross this proverbial line now, then she had to be smart enough to weigh all the possibilities and the consequences, both negative and positive. If she crossed this border, there would be no easy path home.

"I exerted an excessive amount of effort to hate you," Weiss went on to relate the join conclusions. "And shockingly, it only took very little time to take a liking to your madness."

"Well, don't I feel flattered." Was that a smirk she saw? Weiss was inwardly torn - She never wanted the disclosing of this information to be a reference for future guffaws.

"It wasn't easy coming to terms with feelings like this," the heiress argued. "Especially to someone...like you."

Someone who did not fit the categories of a proper suitor, as thought by her father or the snobbish society she lived in. Someone who didn't care enough to care about what other people thought of them. Someone with your bubbly essence, your wit, your naivety, and your unexpected levels of maturity- Weiss could have went on an endless rant of thought, adding onto her other, much longer list which she thankfully did not dare write on paper.

"Hence, the note."

"Of course." Ruby did not hide her teasing smirk. "You always did like your pro and con lists."

"But I want you to know that this was strictly in the past. I have made sure this emotional turmoil is behind me now. So there is no need to find this subject awkward in the future. I would prefer that we forget this ever happened," rushed Weiss, bleeding out her thoughts as they came to her in a state of panic, which came with the dawning realization that she had spent the past ten minutes spilling out her heart to someone who she had only recently reconciled with.

"Oh." Ruby's voice abruptly dropped a few octaves. "Oh, yeah. Okay. Sure. It's...in the past. It's forgotten."

"I am truly sorry that I compiled such a list," she apologized once again, taking the note and tearing it into four pieces to achieve a sense of finality. "I assure you, it will never happen again."

"It's fine. No biggie. But uh... Really?" Ruby twiddled with her thumbs. "It's...all resolved? Nothing left over from the past?"

Weiss was, for a short time, suffering a good deal.

"Absolutely not." The heiress ultimately decided to be deposed if she wanted to appear strong. It was her wish to maintain her cool, lest she risked another embarrassing meltdown.

"Uh huh. Yeah. Well, it's great to hear that but um..." All of a sudden, there was great hesitance and shiftiness in the young artist's demeanor. "Can I just make one teeny, tiny, little suggestion?"

"Go ahead."

"Could you not?"

"Could I not what?"

"Could you not be over the whole...being over me thing?" Ruby struggled to utter.

Everything was taking longer to process this afternoon.

"I'm saying... Maybe you could reconsider the whole 'throwing the past out the window' thing?" Another diatribe began with Ruby, who sounded more and more like her usual self with every passing word. "I mean, I'm all for starting over new. But... I wouldn't mind it if any of the sort of sentimental feelings stayed, you know, inside of you? If it's still there? Because... I always liked you too, and maybe I was being dumb never mentioning this before... I guess I really don't feel like the smartest person right now, but still... I sort of had a big crush on you too when we were in high school and I haven't exactly managed to throw it all out yet."

The enormity of the news was breathtaking.

"You had...a crush on me?"

"I'm not saying that there was a crush, I'm saying that there could have been some...slight admiration. Or daydreams. Um, harmless musings, if you will. I guess, you can say that they were- Okay, yes! I was totally head over heels in love with you." Unable to contain her energy, Ruby bolted out of her chair, traipsing around the living room as she further detailed. "I liked you a lot."

"I- I don't understand." The heiress remained dumbfounded in her chair. "Why in the world would you be attracted to someone like me?"

"Hey! I thought we were finished with the self-deprecating part of the conversation."

"But I- I've never treated you fairly!" Weiss insisted, battling with her own units of logic. "And I've made an exorbitant number of mistakes. Half of which, I am no longer in the position of taking back. And all those moments in high school, where I should have talked to you in a manner that wasn't so impassive or rude or critical or condescending or monosyllabic-"

"Weiss. You're babbling."

"No, I'm not," she denied a little too firmly.

"And you're flushed." The left side of Ruby's lips was twitching, making her appear strangely amused. "I've never seen you flushed."

"There is no reason for me to be blushing," she countered rapidly. "I am perfectly comfortable with the current situation."

It wasn't guesswork anymore: Ruby truly seemed to be appreciating the scene, watching the heiress as she grew steadily hotter amidst a frigid January afternoon.

"...Okay, then how about this?" The young artist approached her calmly, an expression of combined joy and teasing settling upon her face. "Let's drop this awkward conversation for now. And instead... You take me up on my offer from before and we become real friends?"

"...Friends?"

"It's a new year. We've been talking so much about what's happened before… But there's no need to be caught up in the past anymore, right? It's the present that matters." Smiling nervously, Ruby offered the heiress a meaningful handshake. "What do you say?"

This situation, out of many prospects she thought for herself, had never once made it to the top ten list. Inevitably, any scenario encompassing this particular figure clad in red and black, was far too serendipitous to happen in reality, especially for someone with her track record of luck.

Luck, which would run dry out for her sooner or later, Weiss assumed. But until then, what would be the harm in being a hopeless optimist?

"I say..." She swallowed soundlessly, returning the girl's gesture with an equally twitchy yet excited grip. "It's nice to meet you again, Ruby Rose."

* * *

The blonde emptied and refilled her lungs, slowly and deeply, watching the white vapors of her breaths dissipate into the air as they exited from her mouth. This had always been an activity Yang enjoyed to do in mid-winter. When she was young and naive, she found pleasure in the fact that the produced clouds bared resemblance to the smoke created by cigars, which appealed more to her when she was a kid and obsessed with mafia movies. Now, the simple act of watching the condensed mist trickle out from her exhales, had become an exercise of calming concentration, one of the few times breathing exercises truly had their effect.

Although she regretted not thinking ahead to wear extra thick layers, Yang waited as patiently as she could, having found a minuscule amount of comfort on one of the last steps of a stairwell located in an alleyway, hidden from any careless passing eye.

Her hands, feebly protected under fingerless gloves, grew pleasantly numb as they clutched hard onto the wrapping paper of her bouquet. Any moment now, the clock would strike eight, and hopefully, the arduous waiting would come to an end. The sun had long since set, rendering the blonde to feel even colder. Only the incessant churning of stress at the pit of her stomach kept her distracted from the prospect of a cold and a very stiff rear end tomorrow morning.

She checked her phone, in case she had been missing any messages. There had been one left to her by Ruby around four p.m. It was simply a string of exclamation marks, with a few words that hardly made sense together. It could have been related to her earlier message, or it could be completely irrelevant. Whatever it was, she decided that her sister's hyper excitement could wait for later, after some proper context was given; Yang pocketed her phone and fixed her mind back onto the task at hand. She had been running several lines inside her head when a murmur of familiar voices sounded from around the corner.

"…no need to apologize, Blake," the blonde caught only the finishing fragments of the sentence, but the mentioning of the name definitely piqued her interest. "I mean, you didn't think I would get barking mad when I found out, did you?"

"…I didn't know how to tell you."

"...Are you sure there's nothing on your mind?" As the voices grew nearer, Yang could hear that the speaker was mildly concerned. "Is it about that man who visited you a couple of days ago?"

A few clanking sound of heels resonated across the stone pavement. "No."

"Or maybe this has to do with the fact that you aren't talking with…" Velvet trailed off quite dramatically, her gaze departing off from Blake as they passed by the damp street. "Yang?"

"This has nothing to do with that," muttered Blake, still keeping her vision rooted to the ground as she walked. Velvet, however, stopped in her tracks.

Speedily hiding the flowers out of view, the blonde grinned nervously as chocolate brown eyes ogled at her in elevated curiosity. "Yang, what are you doing there?"

Blake must have thought that her co-worker was kidding, for when the veterinarian finally turned her head around towards the alley, her appearance morphed from complete apathy to utter panic.

"Yang?" Blake jumped a few inches.

"Um… Hi, Velvet," said the blonde awkwardly, finally standing up on her cramped legs. "Hey… Blake."

A big gap formulated after the terse greeting, something which would have normally been filled with nonsensical chitchat and several unsuccessful puns. Perceiving the instant absence of hilarity, Velvet tactfully read the mood as quickly as she normally did.

"On second thought… Maybe we should discuss the conference some other time," suggested Velvet, pulling Blake gently by the handle of her shoulder bag, making sure that the latter would not follow her out of the conversation. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Blake wasn't even given a chance to say goodbye as Velvet sped off like a rabbit, making a dangerous sprint across the street, skillfully maneuvering the evening traffic.

Sighing, the veterinarian soon recovered from her shock. Remaining rooted to the spot she last stood, she asked without strong intent: "What are you doing here, Yang?"

"I'm uh… I'm here to see you," she answered, blinking rather dumbly. "You haven't been answering my calls lately and I really needed to talk to you. So…"

"…Right. Because you really seem to understand boundaries." Blake shifted on her feet, her eyes flashing an emotion of restrained worry. "You're nearly blue in the face. How long have you been waiting out here?"

"An hour or so…"

"Oh."

A hush fell over them once again.

"...So, can we?"

"Can we what?"

"Can we end the hostilities and talk?" The blonde added on hopefully.

"...Of course we can talk," muttered Blake, choosing to turn away instead.

"Well…" She attempted to smile, though it came out broken. "You haven't been giving me much of a chance."

"That's because…" Having no shadow of defense, Blake dove straight to her own point. "Yang. You don't need to feel obligated to keep doing this. I'm sorry, okay? I made a mess out of everything."

"No," Yang argued against her with uncompromising force. "You did nothing wrong. I'm the one who should be apologizing. So please stop giving me that look."

"What look?" inquired Blake, sounding awfully defensive.

"That look, telling me to leave." She pleaded with her, "I understand why you're mad at me…but I don't want you to push me away again."

"…I wasn't." In turn, Blake loosened the tension from her muscles brought onto her by taut nerves. "And I'm not mad at you. I just- I didn't go on a date with Sun."

"Yeah… I know." The blonde nodded weakly, aware that her recent blowout would be addressed eventually.

"I'm not in love with him," she stated clearly, paraphrasing to repeat what she had said before with a higher degree of exertion.

"I know that too."

"…Then what more do you need to hear?"

"Actually, I was kind of hoping that it'll be the other way around." Senses returning to her body, Yang felt a flicker of bravery form inside her gut. "I'm not here to try and make you feel better, or to confuse you, or to make you angrier than you already are. I came here to be honest with you, with myself. So… Can you spare me two more minutes and listen to what I have to say?"

Carefully, her friend's gaze waned towards her, the light from the crescent moon being reflected into her amber orbs. The shading added an even deeper level of depth to her soul, lacing upon the look that always made her appear aged and mature. Yang couldn't help herself but let out an audible sigh of relief as Blake nodded slowly to her request.

"First of all, you have absolutely every right to avoid me," the blonde professed before choosing to delve into anything more serious. "I've been a total jackass for the past couple of days and it's because you were right. When you said we should stay apart for a while, I should have listened to you. You needed space, but I couldn't respect that. Because it scared me. Because I've had people leave before...and once they do, they never come back. I didn't want that to happen with us, so I tried to hold on. But I held on a little too strong."

"That's why I'm an idiot," concluded Yang, not minding at all how foolish she sounded, "and with extra emphasis on the present tense because…that fact's probably not going to change for a while. I say things without thinking and because of that I hurt you beyond reason. Don't tell me to stop apologizing because I really feel like I should be apologizing. I'm sorry."

"We're in a bad cycle, Blake. And I think it's time to break it," the blonde proposed earnestly. "You're not the type of person who easily opens up about the stuff that's bothering you. And I've never been the kind of person who tries too hard to pry it out of someone, and it's never been because I respect their privacy, but it's because I just don't want to deal with that much drama."

"But whenever I see that you're upset, whenever I see you cry…" Yang's heart slowed, arteries squeezing around the pulses as the image of unbearable tears reached her imagination. "You are literally the only person I want to take the trouble of figuring out."

"So I thought a lot about it. I thought about what's happened over the week and I've come up with…" She drew in a shaky breath of air, knowing all too well that her subsequent speech would wreak havoc on her friend. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" echoed Blake, sounding incredulous.

"I realized that… I don't need a solid answer." It had never been this easy, but once words poured out from her, it all started to make perfect sense. "My mind's been a mess, trying to figure out so many questions at once. Stuff I've never cared about before, about like… friendship and love. Because to be completely honest... I don't know what it's like to be in love with somebody. Sun seems to think that spending a lot of time with someone sums up to dating. But that's not true. If that were true, then I'd be dating Ruby, and even I'd never cross that kind of line."

"Yang..." She could tell from Blake's voice that her friend's patience was starting to deteriorate. "Please tell me you didn't come all the way here to make disturbing comments about your sister."

"No, of course not." For some reason, the hint of their old banter surged the blonde on. Smirking slightly, she continued. "I came here to tell you that there's no point in thinking everything over. And I know that to some people, this might sound insensitive or irresponsible… But I feel like most of what I've been trying to figure out by myself isn't something that'll be resolved in a couple of weeks. It's something that will come to me naturally, like it did with you. Until then… I only need to have one thing figured out. And it's that… I can't stand my life without you in it."

"Love's stupid. And it's complicated and complex, but it doesn't always have to be put into fancy words like all those songs Stevie Wonder's been singing about. Sometimes... It's the simple act of not seeing someone for a while and realizing how much life sucks without that person." A humbled smile became apparent on her lips. She felt elated, even exonerated. "You're like oxygen, you know? You take it for granted… and once it disappears, it's a pretty big deal."

Having unloaded all of her burdens she had been carrying, the sensation was akin to waking from a heavy coma, dizzy yet well rested. "Now, I know I was being stupid and moronic and a million more synonyms for stupid and moronic... But you were wrong about one thing too. You can trust me when I say this now. I love you, Blake Belladonna. And I would be willing to start any kind of relationship with you if it means I can be by your side again."

Migrating birds chirped overhead, their small bodies casting shades upon their faces as they passed by. Blake hadn't moved a single centimeter; she appeared glassy-eyed, seemingly staring directly at the blonde, or right through her, towards the large dumpster at the end of the alley. Yang waited with growing anxious at how impossible it was to decipher between the shadows of her eyes with the shadows of the advancing night.

"This is strictly if, you know," added Yang hesitantly, "if you still want to."

And yet, still nothing.

"Of course… Um… This all sounded a lot better in my head." The blonde rambled on while smoothing her golden locks, which grew tighter in the cold. "A lot clearer and less mushy."

Her brain dinged like a set oven, gladly recalling another form of distraction she could use to momentarily escape from the period of unsettling quietude.

"Oh! And flowers!" Yang exclaimed, pivoting with alarming speed to grab the bouquet of daises off from the stairwell hidden to her right side. "I, uh, I got you flowers."

The blonde practically shoved them into Blake's hands, whose paralyzed fingers, took the bundle in a heavily dazed fashion.

"So… What do you say?" She finally asked, being exceedingly careful not to prod her friend prematurely.

"Yang… I never meant to doubt you," Blake finally managed to find her vocal chords. "It's because- When I confessed to you, I never envisioned a yes. My thoughts went from falling in love to telling you how I felt. The process ended there. So when you did say no, I didn't want to focus on the rejection. I didn't want to deal with the situation."

Her fingers squirmed around the handle of her fragrant gift. Her eyes trailed down and fixated on one of the white petals. An even more troubled sentiment was being brewed. "Then… When you seemed to bluntly tell me that you might feel the same way about me, right in the middle of a heated argument… I couldn't risk being an optimist."

"I think that's fair."

"But I never told you how I felt because I expected something in return," resumed Blake, an expression of deep confusion being unveiled over her visage. "In fact, I never imagined it going this far..."

Yang watched as her friend retreated to her wonted solitude, giving the situation much serious consideration before moving her desirable lips.

"Of course I still love you," Blake avowed. "But what does this mean for us? What will our relationship entail?"

What _did_ this entail? Yang hadn't thought that far ahead either.

She, instead, leaned in, close enough to smell the scent of fresh flowers dispersing below her chin. With a curious physical sensation, as if she were urged to advance forward and at the same time hold her desires in, Yang made the daring move; every inner inertia spurring her on, she gave into the impulses sent to her from the nocturnal ambiance of ardor.

Their eyes closed and darkness had never felt so heavenly. Blake's lips teased hers gently and she responded immediately, hoping that unbridled passion would disguise her own inexperience and fear.

Even through the thickness of a winter coat, her muscles were so rigid that it was like patting cement. Then, slowly, but surely, the tenseness melted away with moments of each other's touch, starting from the neck, then moving below her shoulders.

The shelter of the alley guided them, slipping them into few seconds of indescribable bliss, which ended with the smallest of trembles.

"Well…" Yang said, when she could speak again. "Hopefully it'll mean a lot more of that in the future."

The seductive joke was wise enough to turn Blake into the most startling hue of crimson.

"Let's take this one step at a time." She straightened, keeping only the minimal amount of distance needed to properly walk and breathe. "...Were the flowers a bit over the top?"

"Not at all…" Blake whispered back, looking at her with patent longing.

"Then... Can I walk you home?" Approaching with caution, she took one of Blake's hand, off from the ribbons of the bouquet, into her own twitchy fingers.

"Aren't you freezing?" Thankfully, there was no rejection this time around.

"I'm not so cold anymore," said Yang truthfully, enjoying the same hot, glittery rush she felt each time they now touched. "Besides… I need to pick up some milk."


	32. Running Back to You (Epilogue)

**Epilogue**

* * *

 _The young girl knocked lightly against the old cabin door. Rotten wood creaked loudly with a single touch, its age being reflected in the eeriness of the sound. She drew her cloak in, closer to her body, with intentions of keeping at least some of the lingering warmth._

 _Then a snarl crept up her left ear. A thick warm breath slathered the side of her neck. Instantly, she felt her body seize up to nothing. Someone – or something – was nudging her from behind; whatever it was, its breath reeked of blood and crushed bones. Hands, now trembling, slowly reached downwards to her unguarded satchel. Exposed fingers felt the metal surface of her knife before-_

"Ruby!"

"Gah!" Dropping her book, Ruby Rose nearly toppled off of her chair. Landing on the floor with a dismal thud, the book closed upon its cover, ensuring the girl that her page had been lost for the time being. Whirling around furiously, Ruby glared up at her sister who had stormed into the house without prior announcement.

"What the- Yang!" She whined. "Don't barge in like that! You scared me."

"Why?" The blonde snorted as she flung herself across the living room couch, landing on top of it with the flat side of her stomach. "Were you reading something dirty again?"

"No. I was _working_ ," emphasized Ruby before turning back towards her disarrayed table. "You caught me reading a naughty book once, sis. No need to hold it over my head until we're all old and wrinkly."

"Sheesh. Somebody's in a bad mood," observed Yang, quite unhelpfully. Playing with a few strands of her hair, she snuggled into the sofa, resting comfortably on several squishy cushions. "I'm guessing your meeting with the writer didn't go so well?"

In response, Ruby clicked her tongue in frustration. "He wants me to redo this entire chapter because apparently it's not 'dark' enough. So I've been reading his book over and over again to get the right mood, and I've been drawing the same thing over and over and over again to get the right imagery... But for some reason, I just can't seem to get this scene to work!"

"Which scene?" Her sister rolled her neck around, trying to glimpse over Ruby's shoulders with mild curiosity.

"Here." The artist took the advantage of interest to grab her tablet and shove it up the blonde's nose. "Tell me what you think."

Slowly, Yang took the device into her own hands and inspected the artwork depicted on the screen.

"...This is a bloody head," the blonde stated simply, surely believing that the visual reflection alone required no other embellishment on her part.

"Yeah," Ruby confirmed without any hesitation. "I know that. But what do you think _about_ the bloody head?"

This earned her a rather concerned look from Yang.

"Uh..." Her sister gave the drawing another tentative glance. "I'm thinking maybe you shouldn't be illustrating children's books?"

"It's supposed to be scary looking!" Ruby scowled, forcibly snatching away the art piece. "The book's not exactly PG."

Yang merely frowned in confusion. "But I thought you told me this was for some fairy tale rendition."

"Yup. But this version of the Little Red Riding Hood makes the one by the Grimm Brothers look like a joke." Sighing deeply, Ruby took the device pen and saved the current artwork before opening up an alternative file, this one which was both colored and fine-lined. "What about this one?"

"That's nice." The blonde grimaced. "How about next time you sign up for a job that won't give me nightmares for a week?"

"I work on commission! Sometimes I have to take whatever job I can get, okay?" Ruby pouted, behaving like a petulant child as she exhibited, this time, a grotesque image of a wolf digging into his next dinner. "Now, please help me out here. The final deadline is in two days and I really can't afford to waste any more time! Be honest and critical."

"Well... It's a very...nicely decapitated head," commented Yang, carefully. After some further pondering, she quickly added upon her words, especially after catching the unsatisfied expression brewing upon her sibling's visage. "I mean- Kudos on the bite marks. Adds to the whole 'killed-by-a-rabid-beast' sort of image."

"…That's…what I was going for! Thanks!" Ruby beamed, delighted for a short few seconds, before letting her mood go sour once more. "Ugh. Seriously though, I don't care how much it pays, I am never drawing something horror-related ever again. Thought it might be fun to try something new, but I'd really rather stick to drawing fluffier things."

"Good call." And with that, the blonde sank deeper into the sofa, rolling around on her back to stare up at the bland apartment ceiling.

"So..." Ruby, turning off her tablet and tucking away the electronic pen, diverted her attention elsewhere, to the noticeable traces of troublesome thoughts appearing at the center wrinkles of her sister's furrowed brows. "What's up with you?"

"Hmm?" Yang barely mumbled a proper reply.

"You look like you have a few things on your mind," she guessed accurately. "Is something wrong?"

"...Nah, it's nothing." The blonde attempted to sound nonchalant about whatever it was that was bothering her. Smirking to herself, she joked, "I just wanted to vent a little…but your chewed up head threw me off a little."

"Oh." Ruby returned the gesture with a light smile. "Well, I'm all ears now."

Forming a not-too wild conjecture in her mind, the young artist cleared her throat. "So… When was Blake supposed to come back from her trip again?"

The blonde immediately reacted, turning a bit pink in her cheeks at the mention of their mutual friend. Technically, Ruby thought, a friend who they were no longer on _equal_ standing of affection anymore, considering that the former two had-

"Tomorrow," stated Yang, following her answer with a conspicuous groan. "Why the hell does a stupid medical conference have to be for a whole week anyway? What could they possibly be discussing for that long?"

Ruby tried not to outwardly laugh at her sister, who was by no means trying to act cool about the matter anymore. Smacking her lips together, she gave the blonde a knowing glance. "Um... It was all the way in California."

"Yeah, well, maybe that was supposed to be a rhetorical question, Ruby." She huffed. "Goddamn it. I feel like a smoker on crappy nicotine patches."

"Wow," remarked Ruby at the lovely visual cues. "Other than the fact that you're comparing Blake to a carton of cigarettes, that's a great analogy, sis!"

In reply, the blonde merely grumbled into the cotton of her cushion. Shrugging at the lack of playful response, Ruby was about to turn back towards her stationery and finish her work when Yang shot forward, flinging the cushion, which landed on the kitchen floor after flying at least ten feet into the air.

It was abrupt, but the blonde had chosen to suddenly abandon the scrutiny of their apartment walls to sit upright on the couch, a tell-tale sign that some importance piece of information would be imminent to the conversation. Her lilac orbs stared intently at Ruby, whose eyes widened slightly out of instinctive reaction. "What? What'd I say?"

"Ruby." Yang bit down on her lower lip, gathering her fidgety hands onto her lap. "I am so freaking nervous right now."

"You're nervous?" The artist blinked at the strange change in demeanor. "About what?"

"...Um... Right. Well, here's the thing. Okay. So..." Yang turned more crimson before forming properly constructed sentences. "Tomorrow's going to be...our first date."

"Our as in... You and Blake?" The blonde passed her an impatient glare, as if the subject of the pronoun was meant to be obvious, even without much context given. But it hadn't been so evident for Ruby, who took a short moment to reflect upon recent events and realize that something didn't quite add up. She shot her sister an equally indignant frown. "Wait. What are you talking about? You guys got together like...two weeks ago."

"Yeah."

"And you went out to tons of places since then. So how could tomorrow be the first date?"

"We may have went out a lot...but they weren't actual dates," the blonde corrected her weakly. "Remember how we went out as a group that one time? Me, you, Blake-"

"Well, I didn't want to be the third wheel, but the two of you insisted that I stayed," argued Ruby, not wishing to take blame for being a stump in the middle of a budding relationship.

"No, no." Yang quickly shook her head in apparent disagreement. "Trust me. I wanted you to be there. It was way too awkward the first time around. So I thought your presence would kind of make it like a...nice trial run. You know, smooth out the surface before you dive right into it."

"Didn't you smooch her at an alley near the dumpster?" Ruby pointed out innocently. "Talk about not diving right into it."

"That was different! That was being spontaneous and romantic," the blonde stressed, pleading with her to take the situation with more serious cognition. "But this? This is- This is _weird_. I mean, we hung out so much together when we were just friends... Maybe that's the problem! Maybe that's why I don't know how I'm supposed to act now that I'm her...girlfriend. And she must be thinking the same thing because ever since we decided to try this out, I feel like she's been avoiding situations where we would be alone together."

Ruby paused, dropping the joviality in a heartbeat to empathize with her sister's astronomical look of concern. "I'm sure that's not true."

"You want proof?" Yang descended a dangerously low eyebrow at her, then proceeded to tell her without being asked. "How about the time we were supposed to meet at the bar for a drink, but I ended up inviting Coco and Blake came walking in with Velvet? Then there was that time we double dated with Velvet and Yatsuhashi? Which was awkward, but at least we weren't being awkward with each other. Oh! And that one free Saturday we had together, when Blake didn't have to work, we had to hang out with Sun and Neptune before Sun left for stupid New Jersey. And then-"

"Okay, okay. I get the picture." Ruby stopped her sister, before wearing an expression of genuine bafflement. "But what is the point of being girlfriend and girlfriend if you're not willing to go out on actual dates?"

"I _know_ that!" The blonde sighed loudly from pent-up stress. "That's why we were going to make this weekend special. She doesn't go back to work 'till Tuesday. So we made our plans to meet tomorrow. It's going to be a nice movie date and... My god, I think this one will definitely be counting as our first official date. But the problem is I don't know how I'm supposed to act on a real date! Shit! I thought the getting her to forgive me and actually convincing her to date me was the hard part."

"Sis, you have to relax!" The younger attempted to include some much needed reason into the diatribe. "You've gone out with tons of other people before Blake-"

"It wasn't _tons_ of other people."

"-and just because you guys started off as friends first doesn't mean the dating part will be any different," Ruby finished with a straight face.

"But Blake's a girl! ...And I'm not saying that's a bad thing," added Yang hurriedly, as if she was afraid of offending a third present person who was invisible to the naked eye. "I'm not going like- Oh, she's a girl. Ew. I'm saying... Okay, she's a girl, and um, and she's really pretty."

Ruby decided not to even comment on that particular tangent, allowing the conversation to lull into pacifying silence as the blonde heaved in a deep breath of air, evidently sorting out her thoughts before choosing to speak once more.

"I- I don't want to screw this up," she muttered finally, in a defeated sort of manner.

"...Sis, you have _got_ to stop worrying about this. Everything's going to be fine," said Ruby, hoping that the sincerity in her voice would be enough to force some sense into the other. "Besides, I'll bet Blake is as nervous about this as you are. She's probably paper-bagging it right now. Which is good. Because this is something you two will have to power through together. Trust me. After two or three dates, it'll all feel perfectly normal."

"Really?"

"Really."

"...Okay..." mumbled Yang, then repeated her words again like a pacifying incantation, "Okay. Okay, good."

"Better?"

"I'm better," answered the blonde, before choosing to direct a confused frown in her direction. "Hold on. How come you're acting like you know so much about this? I don't remember you ever screwing with a friend? ...Or did you?"

"I didn't!" Ruby felt the sides of her face burn at the crude implication. "There was this couple I knew in high school, all right? Well, they weren't a couple when I met them but it was pretty obvious that they were into each other. They were best friends, practically inseparable. Actually, they'd been friends since kindergarten or something. So I meddled a bit and... I think they're engaged now."

Ruby crossed her arms, remembering the recent Facebook post she had seen. "Hmph, if you ask me, I definitely deserve to be Nora's maid of honor."

"Nora Valkyrie?" Yang massaged the bottom of her chin as she dove into retrospective thought. "Are you talking about that girl who ate a whole pie and three plates of pancakes at the country fair? She's getting married?"

"Yup."

"Geez. That makes me feel so old," the blonde said with a slight comical shudder. "And hey! Aren't they a little too young to be getting married?"

"Well, you never know when you're going to go," Ruby considered. "I think it's nice that they want to make all of their days count."

"I'm sorry." Yang laughed. "Since when did you become one of those Yolo hipsters?"

Being the mature girl that she knew she was, Ruby simply stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, nice comeback." Her sister merely smirked. "Anyways, thanks for the pep talk. I actually feel less queasy than before."

"You know, you should really try talking to Weiss more often," the young artist suggested rather harmlessly. "She can teach you a thing or two about staying calm."

"Ahh, trying to get the girl on my good side before the big day, huh?" Yang made a passing jibe, to which Ruby flailed her arms in a spasm of denial.

"No! Of course not!" She yelped, then added on in a disgruntled mumble, "Not that it would kill you to spend some more time with her… She's really funny once you get to know her."

"I'm sure the heiress is a regular comedian. But I'll pass for now. Besides, shouldn't you be the one doing all the talking? I'm not the one trying to get in her pants, right?" This joke did not bode well with Ruby, who immediately let out an inhuman squeal before diving across the room to slam her hand over her sister's mouth, acting as if their private conversation were being streamed for the whole world to hear.

"That's it!" Puffing air into her cheeks, Ruby shoved the blonde towards her bedroom. "Stop distracting me!"

"All right, all right!" Yang snickered, patting her sibling's ruffled hair. "You can go back to assessing your damaged psyche. I think I'm going to go take a nap or something. Wake me up when you feel like eating dinner."

"Sure thing," the artist accepted immediately, being reminded of how famished she felt. "Should I order some Chinese?"

"How about pizza?"

"Fine."

As her sister sauntered off into her room, keeping the door half-open as she usually did so out of childish habit, Ruby slouched back into her chair and stretched. Peaking down, with tear laced eyes resulting from several subsequent yawns, she saw that her book was still on the floor left to collect more dust.

With a soft sigh, she bent over and picked it up. Flipping through the chapters, she found the page that she had been previously reading and immersed herself in the story for the time being, deciding to give the climactic scene its one final read.

 _Sometimes the mess was well worth the pain, seeing the cringes emerge upon their faces, making their little legs squirm, and their tongues twist, blabbering last futile pleas of mercy until my teeth tear into their deliciously plump arteries..._

 _Cackling, the wolf enjoyed every second of sadistic anticipation while the girl beneath him screamed and screamed, until-_

Slam!

"Geez!" Clutching onto the bindings of the book, as well as her thumping heart, a highly annoyed Ruby jumped off the sofa, deciding to fully glare up at the face of her second unexpected visitor; she had been prepared to argue with whoever it was that chose to walk in through the front door at the worst possible timing, when widened eyes recognized the shimmering glow of powdery white.

She let her jaws drop.

"Weiss! What are- What are you doing here?" She staggered back, poorly concealing her shock through stuttering babbles.

Without knocking for heaven's sake, thought Ruby, believing the occasion to be somewhat unfair as the heiress had rebuked her, at least a hundred dozen times, about how rude it was to enter a person's home without being invited in.

Still wearing the beautiful silk dress she had worn in the morning before leaving for an important, clandestine, meeting, Weiss Schnee proceeded to walk into full view, politely closing the door tightly shut behind her.

The heiress may have been stomping, yet her footsteps appeared so elegantly poised that her movement could never be construed as anything but graceful. Upon reaching a distance of about five feet in front of the young artist, Weiss stopped dead in her tracks. Her hands swiftly moved to collect in front of her stomach. Clearly enunciating before her, Miss Schnee made a rather shocking claim: "I went to my first job interview today."

Mesmerized and slightly distracted, Ruby remained there, waiting for her neighbor to finish delivering her speech.

"And I didn't get it."

"You- You didn't...?" The young artist didn't know what to say. The correct response would have been expressions of regret and encouragement for latter opportunities. However, the aforementioned courses of action would only be appropriate if the person whom she was dealing with was in dire need of such kind words. But oddly enough, Weiss seemed more or less satisfied with herself and the situation she was currently recounting.

"...And yet you look surprisingly happy."

"That's it. That's what this is," the heiress agreed with a fearful amount of excitement, latching onto the artist's remark as if it was something sacred. "I'm- I'm happy. The experience of it. It was sublime. For the first time in my life, I did something because I wanted to do it and not because somebody else told me to."

"Um, that's great, but uh-"

"And who cares if I didn't acquire the position? There are plenty of fruitful opportunities in this country for someone as qualified as me. Today could easily be categorized as a fluke, seeing as that I was exceedingly nervous and my fashion choice in the morning had been a complete mistake-"

"Weiss?"

"-and certainly one of those air-headed employers will sooner or later see my worth. If not, I may be forced to move out and live the rest of my life in shame, but you did tell me from before that optimism always trumps pessimism, so that is indeed the route I am trying to take for myself unless god forbid-"

"Weiss!"

"What?" snapped the heiress, clearly annoyed that she was being interrupted mid-sentence.

"Slow down!" Ruby told her with a relieved sort of smile. "You're going to give yourself a stroke."

"Oh, please," Weiss quickly denied. "This is how I normally speak."

"Yeah, you're right. She's the very definition of calm," drawled a third voice, much more mocking in its tone. The heiress immediately froze, her eyes narrowing into suspicious slits as she scrutinized their surroundings.

"Who was that?" She inquired sharply, unable to notice any signs of life around the living room.

"Um..." Ruby glanced nervously towards her sister's bedroom door which was now being slowly opened.

"Hello!" Yang waved happily as she reemerged.

"Yeah, uh, I've been trying to get your attention to tell you that... We weren't exactly alone." Ruby was torn between outwardly laughing at the heiress's flummoxed expression and keeping her cool to avoid insulting her crush. Fortunately, she made the right decision in sticking with the latter, albeit a small giggle did escape from her lips.

The encounter was awkward. After all, though there had been formal introductions in the past, the blonde and the heiress had never gone out of their way to converse one-on-one with each other. Often, it had been short perfunctory answers and greetings, usually occurring only when Yang was visiting the room across the hall where the heiress happened to reside.

"Oh." Weiss frowned for a second, then recovered enough to be herself again. "Yes. Hello, Ruby's sister."

"The name's Yang," the blonde reminded her with a teasing smile. "But hey, that was quite a speech you made there. I think I like you better chatty, Ice Queen."

Ruby made a sure point to elbow-punch her sister in the stomach. Regardless, the top brows of the heiress rose a quarter of an inch. "Ice Queen?"

"Oh, sorry!" Yang apologized rapidly, realizing that the nickname may be deemed inappropriate to another's perspective. "I've been calling you that for a while now, you know, when it was just the two of us- Me and Ruby. Then it kind of stuck on. Now I guess I should really stop saying it..."

Weiss was wearing her standard glare of disapproval. Nevertheless, upon catching a glimpse of Ruby, silently appealing to her with big puppy dog eyes while hiding behind her sister's waiting figure, the heiress decided to let it slide for now.

"Uh... So..." Yang stalled.

"Yes?" Weiss prompted tersely, daring the blonde to make another crack at her name.

The older sister simply coughed into her hand. "Well, this is slightly awkward."

Weiss rolled her eyes in response. "I'll come by later."

"No, it's fine!" Yang shouted, shooting forward to block her exit. "I was actually going for a walk anyway."

"I thought you were going to take a n-"

"-nice stroll around the block!" Tactfully, the blonde sliced through her sister's words, ending the sentence with a nervous, fishy grin.

"Way to be subtle, sis," Ruby mumbled into her sister's chest, which she had been squished into by brutish force when the former wished for her to stop speaking.

"Shut up," her sister said under her breath, before addressing the heiress again. "So you can go ahead and continue your rant. I'm going to, uh, vamoose."

Unperturbed by the siblings' strange behavior, Weiss glanced outside the window then back at the blonde. "I hope you don't mind me asking this, but what are you doing here in the first place? I would have expected you to be at the airport by now."

"The airport?" Yang titled her head, evidently puzzled. "Why?"

"To pick up your girlfriend."

"My WHAT?" The blonde finally released her sister from the death grip she had been capturing her in, only to glare down at the flushed younger sibling with extremely accusing eyes. "Ruby!"

Avoiding Yang's incensed glares, Ruby - utterly flabbergasted - gaped over at the heiress. "Weiss!"

"I mean- You need to pick up my roommate," the heiress retracted her previous statement, trying too hard to smoothly cover up her mistake. "Whom you are not dating at the moment."

Seconds of silence passed.

Weiss, showing weak resolve in the matter, eventually confessed: "...Ruby tells me things."

"What? I- Oh, were we keeping this a secret?" The girl in question laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head as she involuntarily took a few steps away from her fuming older sister.

"Ruby!" Yang groaned. "Geez! You are such a blabbermouth..."

"Hey!" Offended, Ruby countered rather quickly, "It's not like you're so great at keeping things quiet?"

"What? I've always kept my mouth shut!" The blonde challenged hotly.

"Come on! How about that time you told Uncle Qrow I accidentally drove his car into a ditch? Or the time you told Penny about her surprise going-away party so that she was in tears before we even made it to the front door?" Ruby went on her tiptoes, hoping to appear a bit taller and thus more victorious as she hissed out her next words. "Or how about the time you told me Santa isn't real right before Christmas Eve?"

Throwing her a look of grand disbelief, Yang scoffed. "Are you seriously going to hold a grudge about me telling you that Santa isn't real, even though he isn't, for the rest of your life?"

"That's right! Because I liked preparing those milk and cookies in the morning and I have great commitment!"

"Yeah, for the stupidest causes."

"This coming from the girl who had a poster of 'The Achieve Men' on her wall for three consecutive years?"

"They were a great band," she argued fiercely. "They were cool. They had style. And no matter what the media said, they weren't just a cheap knockoff of the Backstreet Boys. Are you really going to debate me on this?"

"Um. Excuse me." Fortunately, Weiss interrupted Ruby's next attack. "I don't mean to break up the Ya-Ya sisterhood going on here, but Blake's plane arrives in an hour."

"No, she doesn't," Yang growled, attempting to keep her temper in line. "She comes back on Sunday, the 24th, six o'clock sharp."

"No," replied Weiss curtly. "She arrives on Saturday, the 23rd, six o'clock sharp."

"What? I- No. I think I would know when my girlfriend's coming back to town, all right? Now, hold on," grunted Yang, fishing around her pockets to pull out her phone. "She sent me a picture of her flight schedule... And... See? It says- It says... January the twenty third..."

Yang gave her cell phone another deep meaningful look, and then- "Fuck."

"Please mind your language."

"Fuck!" Yang swore at an even greater volume. "I was supposed to pick her up at the airport! Today! I was supposed to pick her up at the airport today! I- I have to go- No. Keys. Because I'm taking the car. And- No. No, clothes. I have to change first and-"

Not even bothering to finish her sentence, the blonde raced inside her room, continuing to make numerous thumping noises as she did so.

"I'm beginning to understand why your apartment is always such a mess," Weiss commented rather quietly.

"Aw, sis," Ruby sighed in disbelief. "How could you get her flight information wrong?"

"Oh good," grumbled Yang to herself as she forced on a fresh pair of jeans. "Let's pile on the guilt."

"And how come _you_ know when Blake's coming back?" The artist questioned, turning a curious silver gaze towards the standing heiress.

"Because I live with her?" Weiss answered in a matter-of-fact way. "Shockingly, that puts me in a position of knowing whether or not my roommate plans on returning this evening."

"...Right. Right."

"Ruby, stop flirting and help me find my keys," demanded Yang as she walked out, angrily brushing the knots out of her hair.

-Knock, knock, knock- Someone intervened from the outside.

"Ignore that!" The blonde ordered, rushing in and out of different rooms as she searched for her lost items.

"Where did you leave them?" asked Ruby, lifting several cushions off of the sofa to have a better look.

"If I knew that, then why would I be asking?"

"Did you check your bag?"

"Yes!"

"Your coat?"

"Yeah!"

"The bathroom sink?"

"The..." The blonde paused and quickly disappeared behind the bathroom corner. "Found it!"

"I so don't want to know why," muttered Weiss.

-Knock, knock, knock-

"Who could possibly be at our door?" Yang shouted with exasperation, stuffing her car keys into her pocket as she finally made her way towards the front entrance. "Everyone we ever talk to are standing right here!"

Angrily, she flung the door open.

And any visible sign of movement stopped there.

Blake stood awkwardly outside, a medium-sized suitcase being pulled behind her back. Dressed, in semi-formal attire, the veterinarian glanced up at her girlfriend's dumbfounded visage.

"...Hi," she said quietly, realizing that Yang wasn't going to welcome her home anytime soon.

"Whoa," mouthed Ruby, whispering into Weiss's left ear as they became a captivated audience to an interesting story. "Since when was Blake a ninja?"

"Um..." Blake tried again, this time while grinning rather sheepishly. "Your door was locked."

"That would be my fault," said Weiss, to no one in particular.

"The door- Oh. Hi!" Yang gasped, finally breaking out of her prior state of shock. "Oh my god, hi. Hi. You're here. Hi."

"That's great, sis. Just say 'hi' a couple more times," hissed Ruby. "I don't think she heard you the first time."

Ignoring her, Yang swiftly joined the veterinarian in the hall, closing the door behind her to make sure there were no other snarky interruptions.

"Your plane!" She began to apologize profusely, "I'm so sorry, I got the time wrong!"

"No, it's fine," said Blake, feeling quite relieved that her lover was willing to throw her a coherent set of syllables. "I took an earlier flight."

"No, no, no. I totally thought you were coming back tomorrow," she clarified her mistake. "So I would have missed you either way because I'm an idiot."

"Um... Yang, really. It's all right."

"You..." The blonde audibly gulped. "You look...nice."

"Thank you." Blake returned her with a meek smile. "You look great."

"Uh yeah. Well, this is a really nice...hoodie," said Yang stupidly, looking down at her stretched sweatshirt. "Anyways... Uh, did you eat?"

"No... Not yet?"

"Good. I mean- You must be starving." Yang slapped herself mentally, lamenting on how articulate she was capable of being before her girlfriend arrived at their apartment premises. "How does dinner sound then? With me. Right now."

Thankfully, Blake didn't seem to mind the brief, disconnected, nuances of her sentences. She simply laughed softly, placing a fair grasp on the handle of her suitcase to wheel it around. "Sure. Let me just change first."

"Yeah. Uh, me too. Coat. I need a coat." Yang watched as her girlfriend disappeared behind her door before opening up her own. "Hold on, I- Ruby!"

"Ow!" The young artist fell backwards, dropping onto the floor as the entrance slammed open to smash her directly on the forehead. "I wasn't listening in! There was an odd spot on the door and I was in the middle of inspecting it!"

"Oh sure," droned Yang, too distracted to think of a proper retort. Running inside, she grabbed her favorite jacket off from the coat rack. Jabbing her arms into the piece of clothing, she yelled as she exited, "We're leaving. Don't wait up."

"Have fun you two!" Ruby laughed, waving happily at her sister's retreating figure until she heard the familiar clicking noise of locks. There were several murmurs of voices, a number of thuds, then two pairs of footsteps traveled down the empty corridor.

"Um..." Ruby, blushing slightly, glanced over at the heiress who was quite near to her in terms of distance. "Well, did you want to continue now that my sister's gone?"

"No. I believe I was done."

"Okay then." Ruby nodded, allowing that part of the conversation to putter out before conjuring up another brilliant excuse to speak. "Hey. So if you went on a job interview today, that means you've started handing out a bunch of your resumes, right?"

"Yes?" Weiss answered carefully. There wasn't much caution in her voice anymore, not like there would have been two weeks ago, and Ruby was delighted with the idea that she was a contributing reason for it.

"And... If they like you enough on paper, then they'll probably call you in for another interview?"

"That is usually how these matters are conducted, yes."

"Great." Ruby grinned, broadly and shamelessly. "Then how about we go for dinner too? I know this awesome Chinese restaurant across the street. I can give you a few pointers there."

"...Pointers?" Weiss repeated the word, unsure of what to make of it.

"Yeah. For the job interviews," she elaborated. "It's not like I'm completely ignorant. I went on a couple of interviews before, mostly for art internships and part-time jobs... Come on! It'll be fun!"

"I suppose..." The heiress hesitated. "We can order some Chinese."

"But that's no fun."

"Yes, it may be far less adventurous than walking down a block across the street," Weiss said sarcastically, "but it would be a lot more comfortable."

Her lips curled upwards by barely a centimeter, an action which could have been interpreted as snobbish by an ignorant point of view, but to Ruby, the gesture came off as a rare invitation from the heiress to participate in a light playful banter. "Also, you do know that I have deep knowledge of how these professional transactions are handled? And I am also well aware of how to make a good first impression on any of my potential employers?"

"...Well, duh." Ruby pouted. "I just thought you understood that I was making an excuse to take you out tonight."

"...Weren't you working on your...drawings?" The heiress, after taking the longest time to react, subtly changed the subject. Peering over at the table, she saw several of the artist's rough drafts sprawled around in different places. She immediately frowned at the sight of them. "Um, why does all of your drawings seem to contain a picture of a corpse?"

"Uh... Those are...better explained over egg rolls." Ruby, gently pulled the heiress away from her desk. "Weiss, please. Let me take you out."

"...Does eight o'clock work for you?"

"Eight o'clock sounds perfect."

* * *

"And... How was the conference?"

"It wasn't very eventful... A lot of lectures in stuffy seminar rooms," Blake answered slowly, occasionally glancing at her companion's face. "I don't want to bore you."

"No, no. It's fine." The blonde flashed a smile, quickly erasing any traces of lethargy that may have been presenting itself. "I like it when you talk about your job. My family owns a corgi, remember?"

"So owning a pet immediately translates to having interest in revolutionizing technology for feline cardiac surgeries?" Blake smirked as she made a wise crack.

Yang faked a subtle cough. "Well... Maybe we could stand clear of that particular topic."

Together, they walked in silence, enjoying the evening breeze as they made their way down the half-filled urban streets.

"...I missed you."

Yang felt a large blush etch its way onto her numbing cheeks.

"I missed you too," she returned earnestly, staring nervously into her girlfriend's dazzling pair of amber eyes. "And I've- I... Aw, goddamn it!"

"What?" Blake pulled her in closer with vivid concern. "What is it?"

"I was supposed to make reservations at this really nice place," Yang moaned, in audible self-deprecation. "But then, I got your flight schedule messed up so I totally forgot."

"It's fine. Anywhere would be good." Blake smiled slightly, her features brightening as if she had just cogitated a brilliant idea. "Actually, I know a place where we could go."

Grabbing the blonde's hand, she led them through to a different segment of the city. Yang was afraid her fingers were becoming sweatier and grosser by the minute, but the veterinarian did not relent her grip, not until they arrived at the front door of an old family restaurant. The blonde instantly recognized it to be a small burger place she frequently visited during her free lunch hours. Understanding that her childish taste in food must have factored in on Blake's choice, Yang smiled gratefully at her friend, before feigning a quick sneeze, prying her hands away from Blake's to wipe the nervous drops off of her opened palms.

They were seated almost immediately, taking a dimly-lit spot at a corner near the left-side window. The waiter, after dropping a menu at their laps, conversed shortly with Blake, who returned the light chitchat with a polite attitude. Yang remained oddly silent for it, staring uneasily into the menu resting upon the table until a worried hand shook her out of her reverie.

Blake was looking at her with a searching expression, causing Yang to notice that the waiter had long-since walked off to care for other awaiting customers.

"Sorry. I was spacing out," she excused. "What were you saying?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to share a plate of fries."

"Sure."

"And... What were you going to have? The usual?" Blake grinned, pointing to one of the extravagantly large sandwiches on the special's board as she watched her girlfriend struggle to decide.

"Uh... I'm not very hungry," she lied eventually.

"You're not?" The veterinarian frowned. "Then why did you ask me out for dinner?"

"Because you didn't eat yet."

"Yes. But I don't want you to sit there and do nothing," Blake argued patiently. "Did you eat already? It's only five thirty."

"I'm, uh..." Deciding that she had no other excuse up her sleeve, the blonde sighed. "On second thought, I am hungry."

"...Okay?"

"Hey, excuse me? Miss?" Yang called over a young woman fashioning an apron, who came darting forward with a pencil and a tiny notepad.

"Yes?" She asked with a practiced service smile. "What can I get you two?"

"I'll have the sesame fish burger with mayo," ordered Blake, then glanced over at Yang, prompting her to make her own.

"And I'll have the..." Lilac eyes pierced down at the scribbled menu. "The garden salad."

"You'll have a..." Blake became dumbfounded in her seat. "A what?"

"Oh, and a plate of fries," added Yang, shoving the menus into the waitress's waiting hands. "And just water, thanks."

"All right." The waitress nodded then sauntered off towards the kitchen counter.

Finally, Yang turned a nervous gaze towards her date, who was still gaping at her, as if she had declared the most absurd word in the English language.

"Yang. During all the years I've known you, I've never seen you order a garden salad before," stated the veterinarian, appearing as though she didn't know whether to be concerned or to be amazed.

"What are you talking about?" The blonde shrugged in an indifferent manner. "I'm all about being green."

"But you always order the mega jumbo today's special with extra bacon and extra grilled cheese on the side," Blake noted, repeating the memorized menu as if it was so commonplace.

"Yeah, not really in the mood for any cheese today. Or meat. I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian, actually."

"You. A vegetarian." That was definitely not the most convincing thing the blonde could have said.

"It's nothing!" She fibbed once again. "I'm...on a diet."

"What- Why?" Blake looked thunderstruck.

"What? I could be on a diet!" Yang defended. "Some people have called me top-heavy before. Well, they're dead now, since I knocked the living daylights out of them after they said it, but I think it still counts..."

"Yang..."

"I eat like a pig, okay?"

There was a definite pause as Blake seemed to need a minute or two to digest the news.

"Excuse me?"

"I make a huge mess when I eat hamburgers or any kind of food that has multiple layers of meat and sauces," Yang expanded on, feeling more moronic with each word she inputted into the conversation.

"...I'm sorry, I don't understand where you're going with this."

"Well, this is a date, isn't it?" The blonde cringed. "I want to look nice for our date. I can't be attacking a burger like a vicious carnivore in front of you?"

"But... This isn't the first time we're having dinner together," Blake reasoned steadily. "I've seen you eat. It wouldn't be much of a surprise."

"Oh gee, thanks."

"That's not what I meant," she paused, unsure as to how to phrase her next thought. "Yang... Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No! Of course not!" Yang shook her head vigorously. "You- You are not a problem. I'm the weird one. I just- Ruby told me to act normal, like I would normally act on a date."

"So... Are you telling me that if I'm dating you, you can't act like you?"

"I mean, I could." The blonde frowned, realizing how idiotic she had sounded. "But would that be appropriate?"

"...Yang, I understand that dating, after being friends for so long, is extremely awkward. I'm not sure what's the right thing to do either. I've never been very good at dating," Blake confessed with a breath of uneasiness. "So, if you're nervous, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone."

"Really?" This appeared incredibly doubtful to the blonde's ears, as her partner seemed utterly calm and less-fidgety regarding the issue. "I can't tell at all..."

"Then I'm a better actress than I imagined myself to be." Blake grinned appreciatively. "Besides... Let's look on the bright side. We don't have to go through the whole 'making-a-good-first-impression' phase of the relationship. We've already done that."

"That's right..." Yang swallowed hard. "And... You already know all of my quirks."

"Yes. And you know all of mine."

"...Most of my embarrassing stories, my drunken mishaps, my failed dating extravaganzas... You were there to witness all of them." And how patiently you have waited throughout all of it, she realized.

For some reason, Yang felt weak in her knees, and if she had been standing, she was sure that the sudden depletion of confidence would have sent her legs buckling. "I'm sorry you fell in love with someone like me."

"...I'm not," said Blake clearly, leaning forward to squeeze her shoulder, emboldening the blonde by a significant degree.

"You look beautiful tonight," she whispered, a compliment never having sounded so profoundly desirous.

"Well, this is a nice sweater," Blake echoed the blonde's dumb old lines, in a way that completely entranced the other.

"Yeah... It is."

It should be a crime to possess those eyes. The startling golden hue the two of them contained, reporting the most vivid emotions that seldom were let past the veterinarian's pale countenance of stoicism. In them, captured and displayed, were such pure candidness, one that people must search for their entire lives and be unfortunate enough to never find. But she, against all odds, were able to stare into those amber jewels, at a greater proximity than any museum would ever allow her to do so, to the point where she could cup them in between her hands and draw them closer towards herself.

A kiss, neither prompted by haste nor the desperation to make someone stay, had the potential to make anyone's heart stop entirely. She would have been declared dead on arrival if the excitement tingling down her spine hadn't reminded her that in order to experience the same level of pleasure at a later date, she would have to stay alive for it.

With the kiss, she registered how much her body had been begging for this since the last one, marking the absolute beauty and destructive, passionate, power of their second-

No. This was the third, she reminded herself. The first had been driven by intoxicated passion. And Yang couldn't even imagine how life would have been without the first of January. She would have been happy, as ignorance is commonly replaced with bliss, but like all absence of knowledge, she would have been missing out on so much more: the chance to not only feel mere happiness but also fiery elation.

Their lips parted for a second, as they took a break, hearing each other's breaths travel in and out for a few fleeting seconds.

"I thought you were nervous?" Blake's words tickled the right corner of her lips.

"Are you kidding me?" She smiled cheekily. "This is the part I'm actually good at."

"...Ahem."

Nearly jolting two feet into the air, the two broke apart in a rush, faces turning tomato red at the abrupt reminder that they were still somewhere public.

"Excuse me," the same firm voice intervened, "but this is a family restaurant."

The waitress, having returned with platters of food, glared sternly at them.

"Right. Er, sorry," Yang apologized sheepishly as she allowed the woman to set her plate of vegetables in front of her.

"Well, there goes her tip," the blonde joked, then pecked Blake quickly on the lips from across the table, before sitting back down properly in her seat.

"You do enjoy living on the edge," said Blake with the tiniest blush. "And Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Please order something else."

Yang looked down at her dinner, to a dish she had always previously referred to as "rabbit food."

"No way," she said with a devilish grin. "I'll just be stealing some of yours."


	33. I Might Not Be the Right One

A prompt-based story dedicated to Reeves3

* * *

 **Title:** I Might Not Be the Right One

 **Song Prompt:** Something about Us by Daft Punk

 **Genre:** Romance/Humor/One-shot/Modern AU

 **Characters:** Blake, Yang, Mercury, Emerald

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee

 **Synopsis:** A thief, a bookworm, and a blonde walk into a bar. This is not a beginning to a horrible joke.

* * *

 _"I might not be the right one_  
 _It might not be the right time_  
 _But there's something about us I've got to do_  
 _Some kind of secret I will share with you_

 _"I need you more than anything in my life  
I want you more than anything in my life  
I'll miss you more than anyone in my life  
I love you more than anyone in my life."_

* * *

The art of stealing came naturally to Mercury Black. After all, he had been taught by the best to be a jack of all trades, and what use did the skill of brandishing a knife have on him if he hadn't acquired the skill sets needed to steal that dagger in the first place. The key part about thievery was to be nonchalant, slip in and slip out unnoticed, wearing a charming smile as it was done. And the second part relied heavily on location.

The pub had become rambunctious, bustling with a surplus of visitors during the night. Dodging a few loud drunkards by the stools seated next to the front entrance, he glanced around harmlessly, scanning the room before narrowing down his next unassuming target. Mercury never chose to pilfer for any personal, nefarious, reasons. There were no secret vendettas or acts of vengeance he had to carry out; he simply needed money to afford the things he wanted - and there were a lot of things that Mercury wanted that he couldn't afford. Aware of his own less-than-stellar childhood, honestly Mercury liked to believe that he could have turned out a lot worse, leaning towards espionage or, hell, even _murder_.

But no. Thievery was much more innocent than assassination, he justified. And therefore, he would have much fun and acquire little guilt while practicing it.

A group of brunettes were aligned by the corner, he noted. They seemed pretty intoxicated enough to be sitting ducks but as he approached them, they were quickly accompanied by a string of heavy-looking men who emerged from the nearby bathroom doors. Grumbling under his breath, Mercury moved his gaze elsewhere, automatically crossing off those who were here with a party greater than two. But suddenly, he found his vision to be blockaded by a cascade of bright yellow hair.

"Oof!" He felt something hard hit against his shoulder, which was a shame since he had the tendency to bruise like a peach. Muttering darkly, he peered around at the person who had bumped into him: a young blonde, who had been wrestling through the crowd to reach the front of the counter. Bright lilac eyes turned to him for only a split second.

"Sorry," she grunted at him before moving her head towards the bartender. The apology wasn't satisfactory, but judging from the nervous sweat-droplets forming on the girl's forehead, Mercury decided that she was in dire need of some alcohol and generously chose to let it slide.

"Hey, excuse me?" She yelled over several slurred voices that were surrounding them. "Can I get some service, please?"

Tall, built, and bad tempered, she appeared to be.

With an inconspicuous grunt, he immediately removed her from his list of prospects, not wanting to bite off more than he can chew. Locking his arms around his chest, he patiently waited for a drink to appear onto the counter. Once it did, he slipped the glass away with a slight effort of his wrist, away from a puny blond man who had evidently only been drinking to impress his attractive date.

"Hey! Where'd my drink go?" He heard the man whine before leaving the counter, going completely unnoticed.

Eyes, gleaming with added confidence from old Scotch, searched around hungrily. Mercury was beginning to think that tonight was a lost cause until his radar finally caught onto a young woman dressed in shades of monochrome, sitting at an empty booth near the bathroom door. She was wearing a simply black vest over a plain white blouse, an attire that was neither too casual nor formal. In front of her was a thick novel, which she seemed to be casually flipping through with her left hand, while her right held onto a glass of water she occasionally sipped upon.

'Perfect,' he thought. A woman, sitting at a bar, with a book in her hand – an obvious sign of someone who would be desperate enough to converse with anyone of the opposite gender.

He shifted towards her, straightening his cap so that it cut deeper into his hair, eventually walking close enough to stand near the vacant seat. The thief peered down at her mass of raven hair, the strands of which curled slightly near the creases of her neckline. Leaning against a wall, he waited for her to glance up at him.

Yet regardless of his efforts, she did not even endow him with so much as a blink, choosing to keep her gaze transfixed onto the pages of her heavy novel.

'Oh,' his mind drawled. 'Playing hard to get, I see…'

As rehearsed, Mercury cleared his throat, leaning even closer to the plastic walls of the half-empty booth. "Excuse me, miss?"

Startled, the girl finally allowed her eyes to stray from her book, staring over at him to present the most startling hue of amber.

"Yes?" She responded rather quietly, almost to the point where he could not hear her voice through the noisy barroom. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually, you can," he answered, smoothly and subtly taking the seat across from her. For a moment, the corner of her mouth twitched in visible discomfort. However, ignoring it, the thief carried on naturally. "How come a pretty girl like you is sitting here all alone?"

"Um… Actually, I'm here with someone," she replied back, giving him a small apologetic smile, as if she was alerting him that she had been flattered by the approach but she wished to be left alone.

"Oh, you are?" He arched an eyebrow, taking a chance by believing it to be an abashed fib. His right fingers wriggled underneath the table, fishing around until they ran into a soft object with a leathery surface.

"Boyfriend?" He inquired patiently, keeping her pale countenance locked onto his cheeky smile.

"…Not exactly," she answered truthfully.

"Fiancé?" he added, his hand fiddling around until he could finally place a firm grip around the opening hook. Damn it, he swore inwardly, the purse had been closed by a pesky zipper, adding several more seconds of work onto the clock. He needed to buy more time.

"No," she said more briefly, her responses growing less and less polite with additional nosiness.

"All right then…" He played with her slowly, using his two fingers to pinch around the metal zipper and tug on it gently without making any prominent sounds. His upper-body, in the meantime, loosened. Keeping his free hand visible on the table, he placed his chin on top of it, leaning into his elbow as he gave her another sly look. "Are you married?"

"I'm here _with_ someone," she grunted, while subtly glaring at him now. "I don't have to physically prove it to you, do I?"

"No, no! Of course not." He waved his hand around in fake genuineness. Mercury forced himself to regroup, as the girl before him was proving to be more of a challenge than he initially expected. "I'm sorry, forgive me for being rude. I didn't mean to pry or anything. It's just that... When a guy like me sees a pretty girl like you, reading alone at a bar... It gets very hard to stay away."

The girl still looked at him coolly, as if not understanding why reading a book at a pub could possibly mean that she was single and ready to mingle with any sore loser who came into sight. As a last desperate attempt, Mercury then passed her the best of his smoldering pouts, hoping that it will render her speechless. After all, Mercury thought, he had never been called ugly before in his life. In fact, he always believed himself to be quite charming, handsome even, always at least two levels above average. If this girl could resist his blatant manliness and charisma then surely-

"I'm sorry, but I really am waiting for someone."

-surely something must be very wrong with this girl.

"And if you don't mind, I think she'll be wanting her seat back."

"Ahem," a low voice growled at him from above. The interruption alone was sudden enough to catch him off guard, causing his fingers to slip ever-so slightly from their clandestine position, pulling at the zipper too fast so that the bottom side of his sleeve became caught inside the metal contraption.

Barely moving his now immobile arm, he spun his head upwards, staring up at the young woman who had returned with two glasses of cocktails. Slowly, he recognized her to be the blonde who cut in front of him down by the counter. To his misfortune, she appeared even crankier than before.

"Of course," he swallowed, then smiled despite the sticky situation. "I guess I'll be going then."

"Yeah." The blonde seemed to greatly appreciate this idea.

But he was stuck! He was still fucking stuck! Mercury howled inside his mind. Maybe he could lower his other hand for just a quick second, swipe it out, and then readjust the zipper quickly enough so that he could sneak away unnoticed. Or he could fake having a seizure and shake violently enough so that he breaks free and then he could-

"Is your hand..." The blonde tilted her head slightly, carefully observing the underside of the table. "...in my girlfriend's purse?"

-make a run for it.

Within seconds, within a short time frame that even surprised the thief himself, Mercury jolted out of the seat, bolting towards the opened doors. Luckily, it took several more seconds for the blonde to notice that the man hadn't just been fleeing, but had also been carrying the small leather purse in his sweaty palms.

"Hey!" He heard her shouting at him as he took one step outside of the bar. "Stop right there, thief!"

Classic. Typical. What a terribly original line. Now, what sort of self-proclaimed, best-thief-of-the-year would he be if he actually listened to the girl's voice of thunderous reason, stopped at the foot of the exit, turned around, and said, "You caught me red-handed. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience I've caused you. Here's your purse back and I hope you will enjoy the rest of this lovely evening."

Nope. Mercury Black didn't like to call it quits, and he certainly had the legs to help him get away with it. Dashing down the street corner, he finally ripped the purse away from his caught sleeve and smiled a victorious grin. The smugness, however, was rapidly wiped away when he heard raging shouts continue from behind him. Turning his head over his shoulders, in absolute horror, he saw the same blonde, thundering down the streets, charging at him in full speed, like a freight-train that ran loose from its tracks. The sight alone terrified him; Mercury quickened his pace, staring up on ahead and taking a sneaky pass through an alleyway to avoid unwanted eyes.

The blonde, breaking all odds and past experiences, chased him into it. Sullenly, he took a sneaky turn, jumping over a barred fence and fleeing to an outside space once again. He huffed, catching his breath as he looked around his surroundings, hoping to find a solid hiding place before it was too late.

Several trees, a park bench, and a long river below an old bridge. Pairs of people wandered around the spot of nature. Granted, it was night, and there weren't many witnesses around. But still, Mercury knew he had to be extra careful if he did not wish to be caught this far into the game.

He scowled, jabbing his fingers into the secret pocket stitched to the sides of his pants. The man could feel the handle of his blade with his fingers. Gulping, the thief decided to take it out in self-defense as the blonde came bursting around the corner.

Now, naturally, the sight of a dagger would be enough to frighten anyone. This girl, however, did little as bat an eyelash, or perhaps it was just too dark to see his weapon. He had hoped it was the latter, otherwise it meant that he would soon be confronting an insane person in battle. Mercury was beginning to think that he had chosen the worst possible target in the entire barroom, if the attractive bookworm had a girlfriend whose fist was the size of a...

...Hold on a minute.

...Girlfriend?

Mercury took a dramatic pause in his steps as the gears in his brain finally turned. _Oh_ , she meant girlfriends as in...girlfriend and girlfriend. He nodded his head slowly in understanding, letting out a short smile of relief and reassurance. Now, that made sense. Of course, no _straight_ girl would be able to resist the many, many charms of Mercury Black...

"I got you now!"

He had distracted himself for a moment too long.

This girl must be absolutely bat-shit crazy. That was his last thought as he was tackled down, knees buckling as his body edged closer towards the bottom of a river.

* * *

"You are _so_ reckless."

"Ow. Ow! Take it easy! My hair's all tangled."

"Your hair is _always_ tangled." Blake Belladonna, who had been drying her date's hair, dropped the handkerchief for a second to scowl at the blonde in response. "And I'm glad it hurts. Hopefully the pain will make you sane again."

"Aw, you don't really mean that." Yang Xiao Long feigned a long, wounded look, which inevitably received a highly noticeable eye-roll from the girl standing behind her. Nevertheless, the blonde gleefully noticed that the amount of force driven onto her head remarkably decreased after her words.

The two had been enjoying a nice evening after work, meeting at their usual rendezvous for a short drink before heading off to watch a late night movie. Yet their date had taken a sudden unexpected turn when a mysterious young man began to hit on her girlfriend and, to top it off, stole her girlfriend's purse. Yang was known to be protective over the things that mattered to her. It shouldn't have been a surprise that the moment the thief ran away with Blake's belongings that the blonde would selflessly chase him down in order to retrieve it.

"I can't believe that little weasel got away," the blonde growled angrily. "He's lucky he did too. Otherwise I would have kicked him, right on the di-"

"Yang," Blake stopped her. "You're lucky you weren't hurt."

Her girlfriend placed a firm grip onto her right shoulder and squeezed tightly. The blonde frowned, knowing quite well that the bookworm loved and also hated how easily wound up she could get about matters involving justice. Yang gulped, feeling immensely glad that she had forgotten to mention that the thief was also armed with a sharp blade as she charged at him. Of course, she had skillfully disarmed him, but that didn't mean she could keep balance and prevent the both of them from falling into shaky waters. And it certainly didn't mean that Blake would be more pleased with the idea of her heroically punching the knife out of a hoodlum's hands.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get your purse," she instead apologized quietly. At this level of sincerity, Blake bent forward slightly, meeting the blonde in the eye to pass her a tender smile.

"It's fine," she told her gently, although there was a strange glint of gloom in her eyes. "The police will take care of it."

"But, I _am_ the police," Yang quickly reminded her, although she had forgotten to bring her badge to their date this evening.

"Yes, and though the sight of you diving over a bridge made me fall in love with you all over again," said Blake with great sarcasm. "For now, let's focus on the fact that you are soaking wet and freezing."

"I ain't that cold," Yang grumbled, then sneezed, disproving her own argument.

"Let's go," groaned Blake, grabbing the blonde's hands and lifting her off from the park bench. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" came a tired whine.

"You need to change."

The blonde gaped down at herself, and her soggy attire, then shook her head rather stubbornly. "It's water. It'll dry."

But Blake did not buy into her excuse, folding her arms as she glanced over at Yang with that famously impassive look of hers. "Yang. It's still the middle of February."

"But my apartment's fifteen blocks away from here," she complained, wanting no part of their evening to be ruined any further.

"Don't worry. My flat's closer, remember?"

"Your flat?" The blonde blinked twice then winked suggestively. "Oh. Oh, right."

"Don't get any weird ideas." Blake glared at her, evidently implying that she was still mad about the blonde's choice of actions this evening.

Looks like I'm not getting lucky tonight, sighed Yang inwardly, but followed her lover down the path nonetheless.

"You know..." Yang began to whisper seductively into the other's right ear. "I don't normally go home with strangers _this_ early into the date."

"We've been dating for four years now. Don't try to be cute."

The snarky remark was strong enough to shut the blonde up for the time being.

It was not long before Blake's vigorous power walking forced them to arrive to the top of Blake's apartment flat. Yang was grateful. Although she hated to look weak in front of her girlfriend, she had to admit, she was freezing her ass off in her own clothes, which were already a few layers thinner than what ordinary people would wear in Winter. As soon as the door opened, the blonde raced inside and dove in front of the fireplace, turning on the electric fire and warming her hands in pure bliss.

"Ahh..." She moaned happily. "Now if only I had someone here to cuddle with."

Blake, ignoring her, trudged into her own room, opening up a closet door and taking several things off from the top shelves. Upon entering the living room again, she saw, with great annoyance, Yang lying down on the wooden floor, still shivering, but appearing perfectly content with her latest position.

"Yang, get up." She ordered patiently, while handing down a towel and some fresh set of clothes. "Why don't you go take a shower before you catch a cold?"

Yang took the items gratefully into her arms and frowned, recognizing the long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants to be her own. "Hey, these are my clothes."

"Yeah, you left them here three days ago." Blake also frowned, wondering what the confusion was about.

"Can't I borrow one of your sweaters instead?" The blonde whined.

Blake seemed to ponder about this for a minute. "Why would you want one of my sweaters when you have your own?"

"Because," Yang reasoned. "Yours smell nicer."

"These just came out of the dryer," Blake countered.

"Well... Yeah..." The blonde tried her best to sound alluring and complimentary at the same time. "But your clothes smell like you."

"My clothes smell like my laundry detergent." The bookworm smirked. "Which I used to wash your clothes with too. Now, go take a shower and you can keep trying to sweet-talk me into bed afterwards."

"Aw... Blake." Yang pouted, still refusing to get up. "You've grown more and more immune to my flirting as the years went by."

Chuckling, Blake bent down and pecked her lightly on the lips. Yang was eager to return the gesture, but her friend pulled back almost instantly, smirking as she did so. "It isn't as difficult as you think, miss ego."

"...Hey!"

"Shower." Blake pointed towards the bathroom. "Now."

"Aye, aye, captain," Yang mockingly saluted as she jumped up to her feet.

Abiding by her girlfriend's wishes, she walked towards the bathroom, blowing an inconspicuous kiss towards her partner, who simply sighed at her in reply. Yang contemplated on simply keeping the door open, as a joke, but decided that she would appreciate the privacy tonight and closed the door behind her.

Carefully, she took off her socks, pants and shirt, then her undergarments, hanging them on a nearby rack before staring at her face in the mirror. She slapped herself lightly on the cheeks, seeing a bit of warm color rush inside them and then dissipate as soon as she took in a deep breath of air.

Yang Xiao Long... This is the big day, she reminded herself, before turning on the knob of water. The shower head burst forth, with the perfect amount of pressure that slightly massaged her head as she stepped underneath it.

Running water, hot and a little below scalding, soothed her nerves. Yang felt the tension in her shoulders disappearing as the uncomfortable feeling of wet, sticky clothes left her skin. Absentmindedly rubbing her arms, Yang casually looked around the shower, eyeing the cat-patterned shower curtains, giggling slightly at the memory of purchasing it for her girlfriend after she accidentally tripped and ripped Blake's old ones, which were simply a boring shade of gray.

Taking a bottle of shampoo from her left side, she clicked the lid open and poured out a pint-size of lavender-scented liquid soap. Singing slightly, as she always did so while washing, Yang dropped the whole mass of liquid into her hair and ran it across her scalp and tangled locks. The smell of colorful flowers momentarily filled the air and Yang, trying hard not to act too much like a pervert, resisted the temptation of sniffing it and being reminded of all that was Blake Belladonna.

Lathering and rinsing, Yang contemplated deeply about their ongoing relationship and just how much more perfect her rehearsed lines could make it become. Yes, she had sworn that the tiny little burden in her front pocket would be released tonight, as she would officially ask her girlfriend to become Mrs. Blake Xiao Long. Or Mrs. Blake Belladonna Long. Or she could become Mrs. Yang Belladonna herself. The process was all too technical and frankly, Yang couldn't wait to get into a heated discussion about it with her best friend, now soon-to-be wife.

Okay, perhaps it was a bit presumptuous and cocky for Yang to just assume that Blake would accept her merry little proposal. But after eight years of being friends, and four years of being more than friends, it wasn't simply about bloated confidence anymore. There was a constant presence of mutual trust that she could never possibly omit.

For instance, if Yang went ahead and made a mess in Blake's medicine cabinet, the girl would spew annoyed remarks at the blonde, commenting on her disorganized mannerisms. But she would always end it with a kiss on the cheek, annoyed, but still reluctantly inquiring what on earth the blonde was scavenging for in the first place. In response to the question, Yang would lift up a bleeding finger and earn another round of fretful rebukes from her concerned girlfriend, who would begin ferociously reaching for a box of bandages.

Vice versa, if Blake ever were to cross boundaries and angered Yang to the point where the blonde stormed out, her girlfriend, though equally frustrated, would march right on out into the rain without an umbrella (despite hating getting wet). The bookworm would search frantically for the blonde who, upon being found, would hug her lover so tightly that there was the fear of damaged organs at the end of it.

Granted, these were only minor examples; but even so, the two understood each other on such a deep level, believed Yang, that she often imagined that they had been together in all of their past lives, in one form or another. Needless to say, they weren't perfect. But they were soulmates.

And there were implications that went along with being soulmates.

Originally, she had planned on proposing after the movie. They were to spend at least two hours watching an old romance documentary, a genre that would not have been Yang's first pick, but it had been Blake's turn to choose the date course for this evening. Afterwards, they were planning on taking a nice stroll around the park, marveling at the beautiful moon before taking a long rest on a nearby bench. Blake had mentioned before, only under the heavy influence of alcohol, that her ideal proposal would be being asked under the full moon, accompanied by the amorous mood of Mother Nature.

Desiring to do just that, Yang had chosen the perfect date, checking the weather forecast to find the correct time and place. Now, her plans had taken a slight turn. Seeing as though they were most likely going to miss the opening act of their movie, Yang wondered if she should substitute the gap by turning on a random movie over Netflix. But then again, she and Blake would spend at least an hour arguing over what to watch, before inevitably deciding upon a movie they had already watched and both pre-approved.

Perhaps they could skip the movie and Yang could convince Blake to go outside for a nice walk. Then, Yang was sure, that her partner would tell her that roaming outside with wet hair would be a perfectly good way to catch pneumonia. The blonde would then have to go through the process of using a hair dry, which she never did, as her hair always liked to be dried naturally.

That left very few options, Yang groaned to herself. She would just have to improvise.

Realizing that she had been lost inside her daydreams for far too long, Yang quickly turned off the shower tap and shook her head, draining some droplets out of her ear before squeezing her hair dry. After finishing, Yang draped the towel over her shoulders and rubbed the surface of the mirror, removing some of the fog to stare into her own lilac eyes. The blonde gave her reflection one last look. She winked for good measure. You can do this, she told herself only half-calmly: Attagirl, Yang, attagirl.

Wiping the rest of her body dry, she put on the clean set of clothes prepared for her, breathing in the air of fresh laundry as she stuffed her face through the shirt. It definitely lacked the identifiable scent of her partner. Although Blake had previously denied it, her skin did smell a lot like kittens and soft tissue paper.

Heart thumping, and hope surging, the blonde exited from the steamy room. She immediately found her companion standing around the fireplace, mopping up the place where the blonde had left a minuscule trail of moisture. Discreetly, Yang rolled her eyes, having grown used to the fact that Blake liked to keep her place neat and spotless, which obviously did not include stray puddles of water.

"That took longer than usual. What were you-" Blake stopped moving rather abruptly, staring curiously at Yang from across the living room couch. "Yang. You're pink."

"What?" At the sharp accusation, Yang felt heat flood into her cheeks once more.

"Your face is totally flushed." Blake furrowed her eyebrows in sudden concern. "Are you okay? Do you have a fever?"

"Oh, come on. I don't catch colds." The blonde brushed it off, not wanting to share the truth on exactly why she was redder than she normally was. Casually, she decided to drop a hint here and there before blowing the bomb.

"Speaking of which..." She cleared her throat. "So many of my things are already here-"

"Speaking of which? How is that a speaking of which?" Blake detracted from the conversation.

"-There's really no need for me to go home anymore, is there?" Yang carried on, the left side of her face twitching in slight annoyance and barely contained suspense.

"Well..." Blake seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I'll make sure to remember that and tell your sister the next time I see her."

"Bla-a-ke," Yang stressed her name in a fake threatening voice. "Stop ruining the mood."

"All right." Blake, smiling quite innocently, turned around. "Why don't you just move in then?"

"Huh?"

"Why don't you just move in?" The bookworm repeated, then hummed in early victory as she finished up the floor. The blonde took some time to fashion up a proper response, one that wouldn't give too much away from her own secret plans, plans which very much involved the idea of living together.

To Blake, the suggestion of sharing a home was not an uncommon one. After all, it had been something the two had discussed many nights before. But then again, the two practically lived together anyway with such frequent visits to each other's estate, and it made no sense to wake up early in the morning at a place where they were farther away from their regular day jobs. But then again, Yang shook the silly thoughts out of head, fully aware of the fact that her lovely, sassy girlfriend was simply saying these words to tease her.

"...Well, although I would love to do that," began Yang, playing the fool as she returned Blake's advance with an equally saucy grin. "I was thinking of something a little more...romantic."

"More romantic than sharing a place in my sock drawer?"

"Yeah. Much more." Yang approached her with confidence, confidence that was built upon no other foundations than the fact that they had spent at least one-third of their lives together, in such near proximity, through everything that were thick and thin. "Blake Belladonna. Will you-"

She fished into her pockets and drew out the ring she had long-since prepared.

"Will you... Um..." The blonde's mind drew a furious blank. "Uh..."

Her words trailed off, ending in incoherent babbles, and then silence. Her lilac gaze stared, fixed onto the piece of object she held carefully within her two fingers. Blake also leaned forward and inspected it with mild curiosity.

"...A dime?" Blake took the coin into her own hand, then gave the blonde a thoroughly confused look. "I don't get it."

"...Would you excuse me for a moment," said Yang quietly. "I have to..."

Without finishing her lines, she raced back inside the bathroom. On the towel rack, she found her pair of pants and shirt, hanging dismally wet, awaiting to be dried. Furiously, Yang tackled her jeans and dove into her side pockets, first the right, then the left, digging in viciously until her fingers finally felt the familiar surface of metal. Utterly relieved, the blonde deflated, emitting a prolonged sigh of relief.

"Yang?"

"Eep!" The blonde flipped around, making a very non-Yang-like sound as she did so, while altogether hiding her discovery behind her uneasy back. "Blake, hi!"

"What are you doing in here?" The girl eyed her, appearing more and more suspicious as she approached her through the door frame.

Caught with no escape route, the blonde simply decided to waste no more of their shared seconds. Yang knelt down on one knee, nearly yelping once again as she slipped on a pool of trapped water. Unfazed, she looked up determinedly, into the widening colors of amber. With trepidation, she stretched out her hand, in which she held a thin, golden engagement ring. Properly, this time.

"Blake Belladonna." Yang grinned with obvious distress, out of tension, fear, but more or less from the anticipation of their endless future together. "Will you marry me?"

Deadly silence engulfed the room.

Blake stood, frozen absolutely still as she stared at the blonde, an expression of pure shock and surprise dawning upon her beautiful visage.

"Gosh, I was full-on panicking for a second there." Laughing nervously, Yang prattled on, wishing to fill in the gaps of stunned silence with at least some words. "I thought I might have lost the ring when I dove into the water. Then I forgot that I changed into a different pair of pants... And... Thankfully, I've got a pretty deep pocket."

"So… Will you?" The blonde, who had never been mistaken for a patient person before, asked again anxiously.

"Oh my god. Yang." Her legs, seemingly wobbling, Blake fell down, crouching to Yang's level as she hid her face into her hands. Thankfully, Yang could see from the reddened tips of her ears that the girl was blushing like crazy. A good sign. Please, let it be a good sign, she prayed.

"You're proposing to me," mumbled her partner, still sounding dazed.

"Yeah," replied Yang rather stupidly. "I am."

"I can't believe it." Her voice dropped several octaves, suddenly transitioning from shock to tremendous disbelief.

"What?" Yang frowned in slight discomfort and waning confidence. "The will-you-marry-me part? Or the fact that I'm proposing to you while kneeling on your bathroom floor?"

"I just..." The addressed girl finally lifted her face into view, and to the blonde's great relief, she found that both golden eyes were shimmering in awe-struck delight. "I just can't believe you beat me to it."

"Blake." Yang knew that now was a safe time to laugh. "Will you just freaking marry me already?"

* * *

"This girl hardly has anything inside her purse," the thief grumbled, picking through his recent find as he rested in the shadows of an underground railway. "Who carries around _two_ books on a date? That blonde must have been a real bimbo."

"And what makes you say that?" A girl, with emerald green hair, asked him briskly as she sat next to his side, squeezing the remaining droplets of water out from her partner's fleece jacket.

"Because," Mercury answered briefly. "It's the whole sexy librarian, teacher-student thing people like to have going on. Smart girls always go for the dumb blondes."

"Oh?"

"Stupid." He paused. "But a killer body though."

"I knew I shouldn't have let you go on your own." She scowled immediately at his words. "I can't remember the last time you didn't end up hitting on a girl who didn't dress like a near prostitute."

"Well, I feel like I need to enjoy the process if I'm risking my neck to steal something," he retorted in a biting fashion. "Besides… I found something of slight worth in here."

His fingers wiggled through the soaked purse and took out a small cube box. Grinning mischievously, he tossed it towards his accomplice's direction, who caught it impressively in the air.

"…A ring?" Emerald didn't have to guess twice, opening the small case to find a thinly adorned piece of jewelry. "A diamond ring?"

"Yup."

"This is a stolen ring," she hissed at him, in hopes that some sense would be knocked into him at some point of their lives. "Do you really think we can sell this at some local pawn shop? They're probably filing a police charge for it right now!"

"Relax." He waved off her concern. "Have I ever been caught before?"

"There's a first for everything," she snapped.

"So you're telling me I should return the ring?"

"….Well, I suppose we can trade it with those gullible fools from downtown."

"I'm not making any more deals with Junior and his gang, all right? He ate my cheese burger." Mercury's eyes wandered from the ring to his partner's vacant expression. After a short second, he suggested as a casual afterthought: "You keep it."

"Excuse me?" Her bright red eyes widened in incredulity.

"You should keep it." Without bothering to hear her response, he snatched the box out of her hands, pulled out the stolen ring, and grabbed her defenseless left hand. Shoving it, not gently, into her slim fourth finger, he remarked in a rather triumphant manner, "See? It's free. It's pretty. It's jewelry. Your three favorite things in the world."

"Wow…" She spread out of her fingers, freely observing the piece of diamond decorating her tanned skin. "You really think it's wise to propose to me with a stolen ring?"

"Whoa, sorry, officer." He lifted his hands into the air, smirking brilliantly. "Didn't realize I was going a little too fast."

"Shut up." She thumped him hard on the shoulder. "Prick."

"Bitch," he growled back, rubbing yet another blossoming bruise.

"Wuss."

"Sadist."


	34. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 1)

**Title:** I Miss Our Little Talks

 **Song Prompt:** Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men

 **Genre:** Friendship/Romance/Fantasy/Hurt/Comfort

 **Major Characters:** Ruby, Weiss

 **Minor Characters:** Team JNPR, Blake, Yang, Penny

 **Pairing:** White Rose, Bumblebee

 **Synopsis:** Following the fall of Beacon, and the inevitable separation of the team, it became an irrefutable fact that Ruby missed Weiss. But she hadn't been wishing for the heiress to suddenly appear before her, swinging at her head with a metal baseball bat.

* * *

 _"You're gone, gone, gone away,  
I watched you disappear.  
All that's left is a ghost of you.  
Now we're torn, torn, torn apart,  
there's nothing we can do.  
Just let me go, we'll meet again soon._

 _Don't listen to a word I say.  
The screams all sound the same.  
Though the truth may vary  
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore."_

* * *

Ruby Rose wished that this was a dream. If it had been so, she would have been much happier than she was at the moment.

Within the realms of her fantasies, she would be visiting her mother's grave. To any ignorant bystander, this fact may sound grim, but to Ruby it was something of a monthly routine. Although Summer's tombstone always remained cold, the sight of her epitaph, in a strange unsettling way, never failed to give her hope. Somehow she knew, she knew that her mother's spirit would always be with her, watching over her as she made her way home. By the end of the journey, her father, her sister, and Zwei would welcome her inside their house with wondrous hugs and a cup of hot chocolate.

The voyage back, despite being a grueling process, would be full of adventure and excitement. The moon, gleaming eerily behind her, succeeded numerous times in making her feel empowered, emboldening her and lionizing her until she managed to defeat a horde of wolves on her own.

The likeness between her current situation and that of her dream was the reason for such childish desires. After all, she had been here before. She had seen this barren wasteland with its ominous sea of glowing red eyes. In her dreams, one particular wolf – large and black – would lift its ugly neck at her, revealing a set of protruding fangs. And then Ruby would have it locked in position underneath her weapon and within seconds, she would render it headless.

But the growing sense of numbness in her toes quickly reminded her that this wasn't a dream. Reality had always planned to turn out this way. Stripped of the magical powers and limitless strength that only the mind could ever grant her, Ruby knew what she truly was in the world of Remnant: a helpless, young, fifteen-year-old girl.

Snow crumbled under her feet. Staring down, she saw the shadows of her own figure shift with time. As usual, darkness descended in alarming speed. A snarl signaled the beginning of the fight and Ruby stepped silently into the clearing, her crimson scythe glistening slightly beneath the fractured moon.

Dense claws charged into her vision. Taking a small side-step, she allowed the wolf to stumble. Subsequently tipping her weapon over her own head, she slashed down relentlessly to detach another's.

Ruby's expression became dark, noticing the splatter of gore sink deeper into the snow, tainting its white purity. Unlike her dream, petals of red did not scatter into the air. Blood drops were blood drops. Red like roses, but the comparison ended there. Whipping her scythe with a controlled twist of her wrist muscles, she watched as the decapitated monster thumped dismally onto the ground, the sound of its fall being muffled by the blanket of winter. Angry growls grew into vicious roars. Her cloak fluttered in the air then sagged abruptly with the sudden cut of wind. Preying upon the ominous silence, the creatures tore into the night.

They were coming for her, she noted, and as if to mock them, she stood perfectly still. Then, like she had rehearsed numerous times before, she propelled herself into the night sky. The moon flickered as she sore, its paleness reminding her greatly of a special person who seemed to carry the very essence of celestial magic.

Distracted or not by its abstract beauty, Ruby knew better than to let herself get too close to the Grimm. Keeping a safe distance, she analyzed the battlefield. Silver eyes scrutinized her nearest vicinity and her trained hands, young but calloused, pulled the delicate trigger… Multiple times.

The noise of exploding heads erupted across the land. Landing several feet away from the remaining wolves, Ruby settled down Crescent Rose. Giving her weapon a brisk swipe, she positioned it into the snow, making sure that the murderous creatures were in healthy shooting range of her sniper rifle.

Thrashing and snarling, the Grimm dropped to the ground, disintegrating into grayish dust and then dissipating soundlessly into the newly brewing wind. The rest, which were unfortunate enough to dodge her first shots, met the harshness of her soles as she kicked them with her boots, disarming them for a mere second before transitioning her scythe towards their vulnerable necks.

In the end, only one creature remained, one she had missed due to the consequences of her languid arms. It stood on its hind legs. From its height and armored chest, Ruby realized that this monster would equate to being the pack's vicious leader. She braced herself, clutching her weapon so tightly that her knuckles went white. It paused for a moment, as if it were sizing her up, then took a ferocious swipe at her shoulders, being much too fast despite its enormous size. Startled, she jumped backwards, a second too late as she felt a sharp stinging on her left arm. Her aura, having taken the brunt of the hit, was dropping, slowly but surely. Wincing, Ruby lifted her scythe. Wobbling slightly, she ran forward, refusing to buckle before her blade made contact with the creature's fur. Yet its skin was much thicker than it appeared, or perhaps the blade of her scythe had simply grown dull.

Another violent strike and she was sent shooting across the clearing, her airborne journey only cut short by the impact she made with a faraway tree. Ruby groaned loudly, trying to ignore the throbs from her blossoming injuries as she raised Crescent Rose feebly over her head. The Alpha growled hungrily, dripping saliva onto the ground as it advanced.

Feeling its breath on her cheeks, she winced, catching the smell of blood leftover from the wolf's dinner. With a slight shudder, she realized how little she cared about the outcome of the battle. Ruby didn't even open her eyes as the Alpha advanced, not wanting to witness her own death as she was ripped into pieces. She didn't, in fact, open them until her ears caught onto an odd whizzing sound. Silver orbs blinked, dazed and searching, until something bright, something very unfitting to the dreary atmosphere caught her attention. The object flew past her hair and smashed directly into the wolf's nose. The Alpha howled in pain, shaking its thick head while trying to clear the air around it, which had turned undeniably _pink_.

Ruby stared in bewilderment at the color, recognizing the wild hue of it. She took a moment to remind herself that pink was a normal color to witness on the battlefield now; after all, Nora Valkyrie had become one of her invaluable teammates, or to use a better, more fitting phrase, _she_ had become a temporary member of team JNPR.

"Look out!" A forewarning came from above, and in response the hooded girl quickly rolled out of the way, ensuring that she wouldn't be squished to death by her teammate's sudden departure from a nearby tree branch. A small but lively figure jumped in front of her, sending horrible trembles into the earth's crust as she smashed down a heavy hammer. The attack had missed its target, but nonetheless managed to knock the creature off its feet.

Nora kept her grip on her huntress weapon, engaging in a sudden staring contest with soulless red eyes of the grisly Beowulf. Her feet planted themselves into the ground, gaining the girl a firm crouched position before she roared, making wild use of the transformed bazooka strapped in her hands. Ruby, who hadn't moved from the spot, felt her ears go slightly deaf at the volume.

It was not long before more angry shouts echoed into the frigid air. The only difference was that now they were mostly human. Growling savagely, the Alpha seemed to ponder on retaliating but seemed wise enough to decide against it when two more pairs of legs joined the battlefield. Its movements expressed caution and sagacity. Pivoting on its clawed feet, it flecked several drops of blood out of his mouth before dashing away from the crowd, back into the shadowy corners of the evening forest.

There were now, to Ruby's great annoyance, sounds of avid concern. She ignored them, for as long as she could, until a gloved hand gently placed itself on her shoulders. Uncomfortable, she tilted her stiff neck and stared up at her comrade's deep azure gaze.

"Hey, Jaune…" The greeting started off nicely, though her voice died out slowly in the descending wind.

"Ruby!" Mr. Jaune Arc shouted fervently at her, dropping to his knees immediately to inspect his teammate more closely. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine! I'm fine," she replied, laughing nervously as she sat up. Jaune was still kneeling beside her, gazing at her uneasily. Nora, who had withdrawn her hammer into its small, more portable shape, also stared at her in worry. In the meantime, Ren had done nothing out of the ordinary to break the silence, although his irises, still remarkably pink, glimmered with slightly more emotion than usual.

"Seriously, guys. I'm okay," Ruby added hurriedly, in order to reassure them even further. Jaune didn't seem to believe her but stood back on his feet, stretching out his hand towards her in blunt assistance. Begrudgingly, she accepted the gesture, standing back on her heels to wipe the dirt and snow off of her combat skirt. At his expectant visage, she mumbled something apologetic, though made a point not to look too pathetic.

"Don't run off like that," Jaune calmly chastised her. His character certainly had changed, she grimaced inwardly. When they had first met, he was barely capable of meeting her in the eye. Now here he was, having enough galls to rebuke her for being careless. Ruby wasn't sure if she preferred the former or the latter.

"Relax!" She grinned at him, then at the others, in an overly energetic fashion. "I was just chasing after a Beowulf and I lost my sense of direction."

"And your track of time..." Ruby heard him mutter under his breath.

"Really, Jaune." She rolled her eyes, sensing the pleasant mood disappear as fleeting as it came. "I was doing fine on my own."

"Ruby," he went on rather coldly. "You went on your own again, without telling us a single word. You could have _died_ if Nora hadn't-"

"I _told_ you," she nearly growled. "I had it all under control."

"Uh... Guys?" The bickering pair glanced up, their growing argument being stalled for a moment by Nora, who spoke with widened pupils and a forefinger pointing straight up at the elevated woodland that stood behind them. "I think we have company."

Nora could not be more right, thought Ruby. In slight horror, Ruby noticed the sight of a mass swarm of Ursai hurtling towards their direction. The Grimm must have been allured here by the noise of fired bullets. They charged, gaining monstrous speed as they slid down a slippery slope, creating a small but still deadly avalanche as they came closer.

"Move!" Jaune ordered, and the others didn't have to think twice about it. Ren grabbed his partner by the arm, assisting in their momentary egress from the ground as they jumped free from the range of stray icicles. Ruby and Jaune, in the meantime, went the opposite direction, sliding down a small hill, unwillingly swallowing pieces of snow and ice that flew at their unguarded faces. Breathing heavily, Ruby coughed, brushing the remnants of Winter off from her shoulders, grateful that she hadn't been engulfed by the thick coat of dirt and frozen water particles.

"Can you stand?" She felt a firm hand grab her from behind.

"Yeah, I can stand!" Ruby pulled apart from him, peering around just in time to see glowering red eyes. "Jaune, behind you!"

As suspected, the blond took too long to turn his head; wasting no time to save his life, Crescent Rose sprang to life and shot at the bear, blasting right at the monster's right socket. It howled in pain, staggering back for a moment as Jaune regained his stance and adjusted his equipment.

"Thanks," he told her, but she left him in a cloud of dust, rushing to take on the new wave of Ursai that were rushing in from the north-west direction. Ruby growled in frustration as she dodged another fresh line of claws, struggling to hit a single target as she fired a rain of bullets across the terrain of snow. At the sound of howling missiles, the creatures retreated for the time being, slicing through trees and hiding among the timber before plotting another strike.

"Jaune!" Nora began to call out to the distant duo, but the rest of her words were ironically drowned by the effects of her own voluminous weapon.

"What did you say?" The blond leader, who had been left to engage one of the largest Ursai, shouted from an interval of several meters.

"She said," Lie Ren, who somehow materialized beside his partner, translated across the dust of pulverized Grimm, "that there's too many of them!" The attempted conversation distracted the teen for a few seconds, creating an opening for his opponent. Luckily, the attack was quickly stopped by Nora, who always became shrewdly observant whenever a situation arose, threatening the life of her childhood friend.

Ruby took a moment to observe the field and knew right away that her comrades were speaking the truth. There must have been at least ten, no, twenty Ursai growling near their surroundings. Understanding the message at once, the girl withdrew her scythe, locking it onto the magnet attachment at her waist before turning to a dazed Jaune.

"Come on! We need to regroup!" Ruby shouted at the blond, gesturing at him to follow her. They ran across the battlefield, delayed in speed by the slushy surface, but eventually succeeded in diminishing the distance between themselves and the pair situated to their far left. Upon reuniting, the four of them immediately ducked down, avoiding collision with a large uprooted tree, and then hurriedly rushed across the field, taking temporary refuge behind a heap of gathered snow.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," panted Jaune as he looked around at them all, newfound bravery being displayed upon his face. "Ren and Ruby, you guys distract the pack. Nora and I will sneak around back and try to catch them off-guard."

"Got it," agreed Ren and Nora simultaneously, nodding once before dashing out from the fort. As intended, the blond chased the figure of his hammer-carrying friend, and Ruby, despite her semblance being speed, blinked twice before processing the idea.

"Wait," she paused, standing up to peer around at her team members, who had all scattered out across the land. Ruby raised her hands in half-exasperation. "That's your plan? _This_ is the plan?"

Fortunately or not, her remark went unheard as a particularly big and aggressive Ursa popped up in front of her, as bloodthirsty as the whole lot of them.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," mumbled Ruby darkly, swatting the Ursa several times on the nose and the neck to keep it a healthy arm length away from her. It clawed viciously, impeding her vision for the moment as it assaulted her from both the right and left. Coincidentally, she heard an equally nasty grunt being sounded from behind the wretched beast. The girl took a moment to stare beyond her opponent to see Ren surrounded by several more monsters than he could possibly handle. And from the way his shoulders were sagging, Ruby could tell that he was starting to lose his stamina as the fight prolonged itself. It didn't help that he had to be running directly on such a tiresome terrain - he didn't have Ruby's advantage of being able to fly here and there with the aid of her semblance.

Activating her powers, Ruby felt the world around her slow as her body vibrated violently into the air. Her legs, agile enough to defy gravity, streamed over the snow, dashing around in several circles, confusing the Ursa at the expense of a major headache. Ruby, calculating the right moment to strike, stopped a few seconds before hitting her limit of tolerable vertigo and actuated Crescent Rose. Heaving it to her right side, the blade of her scythe wrapped around the armored waist of the Grimm. Confused, though invariably trapped, the Ursa had no time to defend itself. Ruby's precision, combined with her speed and accumulated momentum, assured the girl that once she made another turn, with the Grimm trapped in the inner belly of her sickle, she would be able to fling the monster off of its feet, hurling it outwards with the force of a blustering cannon ball.

And she did exactly that. Her muscles were sore, burning and aching for every second that passed, but Ruby carried on nonetheless, slugging the thing - which would easily be at least three times her own body weight - with her arms and weapon, and then promptly let it go, much like how she would release a boomerang into the air.

The Ursa flew with impressive speed...and to Ruby's immense relief, the creature was thrust in the direction of Ren's opponents, thankfully narrowly missing the boy himself. Several of the snarling Ursai revolved their heads before being smashed in, falling and crashing into ground. Ruby, who had no more energy left to move, took in large intakes of oxygen as she unwound at her latest spot. Ren, who was clutching his strained sides in pain, gaped at the group of Grimm that had been knocked down like a pile of dominoes, and then presented Ruby with an endearing look of pure gratitude.

Out of the chaos, Jaune emerged once again. His eyes squinted and his brain shrewdly assessed the situation to their greatest advantage before making another quick-witted decision.

"Nora! Ren! Flower Power!"

The latter groaned, reluctantly switching on his two automatic pistols as he was called to his duty. Recess had been cut way too short, but Ren knew better than to extend the battle even further. Dashing over to the group of Ursai, all of which were writhing and snapping their teeth once again, the hunter pulled StormFlower up to his face and fired in endless sequences of bullets, hitting the Ursai in spots directly underneath their dense chins. The shots, though not lethal, advocated accuracy, disarming the monsters for the minimally required time frame, weakening the bone structures to the point where Nora, exhausted or not, could aim her strikes perfectly enough to lob each of their heads off in a clean but brutal fashion.

Soon, the sky filled with flurries of decapitated heads.

Then black smoke.

And then nothing more.

"...And that," Jaune panted, "is how..."

"It's done!" Nora finished for him, tackling Ren into a short but tight embrace of victory.

"Yeah..." Ruby, though equally relieved, felt her mouth run dry in conclusion. "Great job, you guys."

"Right..." Jaune stood by awkwardly, as if he was just reminded of their earlier argument before the team had engaged in another death match. Clearing his throat, he gave her a lop-sided grin, which was obviously meant to be some sort of peace offering of truce. "You too, Ruby."

The girl merely nodded, passing him a tiny smile as well. Undoubtedly, Nora and Ren had felt the level of tension increase between the two of them. Most likely to avoid another fruitless confrontation, Ren cleared his throat, gathering more attention to himself than he ever liked to acquire. Looking around, his pale pink eyes narrowed at the sight of the ascending moon. "We should set up camp for the night," he decreed.

"Here?" Ruby glanced around the clearing. Ugly footsteps, claw marks, and blood stains had besmirched the once beautiful landscape. The huntress felt a tinge of regret, having picked a fight with her enemies on such a peaceful silent hill. "I think it's a little too out in the open, don't you think?"

"Yeah..." Jaune agreed quietly, slowly massaging the back of his neck as he did so. "How about we walk back towards the forest, where we won't be so easily seen by any passing Grimm?"

"Sounds good to me," approved Ruby. Laughing rather flippantly, she gave him a short thumbs-up before whizzing past him with the aid of her semblance. "I'll go find some firewood!" She yelled at them before running out of sight.

Nora, Ren, and Jaune all shared mystified glances before sighing in defeat.

"Nora, why don't you go set up the tent?" Jaune suggested.

"Yes sir!" buzzed Nora, before sprinting off in the same direction as Ruby.

"And Ren… Why don't you go help Nora set up the tent…" The blond cleared his throat. "You know... Properly?"

"Sure," he said, shrugging his shoulder before trudging off after his own partner.

* * *

The sound of light snores filled the air, quite relaxing until the arising incoherent mumbles became loud enough to wake Ruby.

Annoyed, the girl readjusted her hood, which had been slightly choking her during the period of uncomfortable sleep. She turned, glancing over her shoulders to see Nora sitting in front of the campfire, her head bobbing along to an erratic rhythm as she dozed off.

"Nora..." Ruby groaned, noiselessly rising to her feet in order to prod the girl.

"...cakes..."

"Huh?"

"...Pancakes!" The girl yelped, snorting once amidst her sleep before falling silent once again.

Ruby resisted the urge to laugh, chuckling silently to herself as she pulled Nora gently by the arm. Having spent several nights together, Ruby knew that it would take an earthquake - or an extremely peeved Ren - to wake Nora up from her period of slumber. Using this fact to her advantage, the small leader tugged and dragged until the tired girl was resting peacefully on top of her designated mat.

It was ironic, Ruby thought bitterly. Ever since she was little, she always dreamed of becoming a huntress, establishing a team of vagabonds and misfit heroes to travel together, find adventures, and save people's lives along the way. She never imagined that it would be like this, sleeping on the cold floor, practically like homeless beggars, never being able to fully sleep by the fear of enemies ambushing.

Ruby sighed, taking a seat in the space Nora had been preoccupying. Her antsy hands strayed, picking up and throwing a rogue stick into the fire. The flame was threatening to go out, growing weaker and weaker in the cold frigid air.

She allowed several hours to pass by without meaning. Despite her aching limbs and sore wrists, Ruby found that no part of her conscious mind wanted her body to physically rest. Even her eyes, though tired of keeping themselves from shriveling up, opened up defiantly whenever the huntress decided to rest for a short while. And so, Ruby spent another night, ill and agitated, waiting for the sun to rise again as her rear became stiff from the lack of mobility.

The random chain of snores soothed her, and then made her feel worse than she already did.

"Ruby?" A sleepy voice called out, breaking her out of her grim thoughts. She turned to see Jaune approach her, rubbing his face as he squinted at her. "What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Oh, you looked pretty tired so I thought I'd let you sleep in for a couple more minutes," explained Ruby with a cheery smile.

"Minutes?" Jaune frowned. "Try a couple of hours. Ruby, the sun's almost out. Go and get some sleep."

"Nah," she declined flatly. "I'm not that tired."

Though she had told him this with a smile, she could already see the doubt forming across his visage. After all, her excuse had been flimsy at best. But Jaune, seemingly predicting Ruby's obstinacy, pretended to be oblivious to the truth, sitting down next to the fire in dead silence. He was squirming too, she could tell from the corner of her eyes. His fingernails were digging into the earth, drawing lines across the caked dirt beneath the ice, wandering aimlessly like their weary minds. In her peripheral vision, she saw him open his mouth, then close it, repeating the action several more times before he finally plucked up the courage to utter a single syllable.

"Wait," Ruby stopped him, holding out a hesitant hand to carry out her order. "Did you hear that?"

Jaune's mouth inevitably snapped shut. His body froze, ears listening intently for the mysterious sound.

"What's that?" She whispered at him, an unmistakable rustle being heard through twilight.

"I don't know," he mumbled truthfully. "A raccoon, maybe?"

"Jaune." She sent him a knowing glare. "Between you and me, has it ever been just a raccoon before?"

"Well... No," he answered honestly with a frown. "But it could be- It could be!"

Yet Ruby wasn't listening to his shouts, having already grabbed her weapon and standing up on her feet to investigate. Jaune, who glanced between his resting teammates and his curious friend, groaned before running after the fluttering red cloak.

"Why? Why is it that you girls always go looking for trouble?" Ruby heard him distinctively mumble behind her back.

"Oh, don't be such a scaredy cat," she laughed at him.

It was strange indeed. The rustling echoed throughout the bushes, ushering them down a heavily forested path. It was hard to concentrate on the sound itself, with piled snow falling down from tree leaves, and with Jaune yelping every now and then whenever something wet hit him over the head. However, Ruby, more akin to her senses, tuned in on the source, growing ever more curious as the rustling transformed into light grumbles.

"Seriously. Do you hear that?" Ruby hissed.

"No! I don't hear a single thing," retorted Jaune, sounding busy as he shooed away a prickly bush from his face. "Maybe it's because there's nothing out here?"

"You're too loud," she countered. "Stop breathing so much."

"How do you expect me to stop breathing?" Jaune whined, but attempted to appease his friend somehow by draping his two hands over his mouth. As a result, his next words came out slightly muffled: "You mean like this?"

Ruby paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She could laugh at his silliness and acknowledge his effort by mirroring his action: This would be the normal Ruby Rose thing to do. But something about the situation made her empty and disheartened.

A deep pang inside her chest informed her why. It was mainly because this time, there would be no one by her side to carry on the conversation with a terrible pun, most likely incorporating the word "muffle" into some sort of a poorly designed joke. Neither would there be a down-to-earth remark, usually followed by silence or a masterful display of rolling eyes. It simply wouldn't be the same. Ruby wished that she could do all of the characters herself, but she was just one tiny person.

Feeling fractured, she resorted to doing none of the above. Smiling weakly, she bobbed her head awkwardly at him before allowing her attention to wonder off. Jaune dropped his hands in slight disappointment then decided on going down the path in relative silence.

After several long seconds, they finally arrived at the end of the bushy path. Ruby gazed dumbly at the sight that greeted them.

"It's a cave," she heard herself say, walking out of the woods to the mysterious pile of creased boulders. At the foot of the small mountain was a black hole, big enough for a Grimm to fit through. The noise had stopped for now, but something about the dark entrance was calling out to her, beckoning her to come closer.

"Let's go check it out. It's probably that Alpha from before," she conjured up a convincing excuse. "I don't want to wait around for it to attack us first."

"Yeah... But maybe we should go get the others before marching into fishy-looking caves," suggested Jaune, sounding extremely cautious and vigilant.

"Come on," she said, grinning as she tugged on his arm. "It'll only take a minute. There's no need to bother Ren and Nora."

"But-"

"Or you can stay here," Ruby offered, loosening her grip on his sleeve as she etched towards the cave.

"Ruby!" He hissed at her in a hushed voice, as if afraid of waking up a nearby monster that was enjoying its slumber. For a moment, Ruby went on her own, growing fairly certain that the blond would leave and bring the rest of the team with him as reinforcement. He, however, surprised her by running forward, in a quick and cowardly motion, but he still followed her nonetheless.

Jaune stretched out both of his arms, trying hard to blockade her path. Raising her eyebrows, she was about to tell him off when he shook his head at her, miming at her to be patient. Anxiously, he tiptoed to the mouth of the cavern, peered inside, and emitted a nervous whistle. "Hold on. It's pitch black in there."

He then stepped away from the chamber, searching instead, among the trees and vines that hang loosely around them. Ruby watched closely as he scavenged around, breaking off two sizable branches off from a withering tree. He balanced them in his two hands, then deciding that they were suitable enough, brought them back to Ruby. He held them out to her, asking the girl to hold it for him as he worked. She obliged, watching in silence as he took out a roll of soggy bandages from one of his numerous pants pockets. He rolled them around the edges of the sticks, using up most of them during the process. At the end of which, he fished out a small orange lighter. It took a few seconds for the flame to catch on, but once it did, the fire spread onto the cotton, burning brightly into dim atmosphere.

"Wow," commented Ruby, thoroughly impressed that Jaune knew how to do such a thing. After all, wilderness skills seemed to be at the very bottom of her friend's list of capabilities. "Where'd you learn to do that?" She asked with mild curiosity.

"Uh… My dad taught me." He then hesitated, as if there were more to discuss about the topic of emergency torches. But something in his eyes - the sudden remembrance of raw pain - informed Ruby that it would be a touchy subject. Something about the flame seemed to be reminding him of a hurtful memory. Wishing to avoid it, Ruby took one of the flaming branches and endowed him with a silent but appreciative grin.

"All right." Jaune sighed quite deeply, much like a father who had to reluctantly trail the steps of his mischievous four-year-old daughter. "Just a quick lookie then."

Ruby nodded, then took the first tentative steps into the cave. They had barely walked a hundred meters when Jaune whimpered nervously from behind her.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he complained, sticking much too closely to her so that she could discern his breath tickling the top corners of her neck.

"Relax," she reassured him. "We'll find the Grimm, kill it, then head back to camp before Nora and Ren even wake up."

"Oh, it's going to be _that_ easy? Fighting a gigantic Alpha in the middle of a dark cavern?" She didn't have to see his expression to tell that he did not like her impromptu plan at all.

"Yeah, well, we can lure it out if you want," suggested Ruby, willing to say anything to prevent the blond from worrying.

"Sure," he replied, still sounding strongly skeptical about the idea. "And you were planning on doing this on your own? Bait and everything?"

"You're here now," she remarked after a short pause.

"And what if I wasn't?"

"Then I would have done fine on my own. I can take care of myself, okay Jaune?" Something that she said, or the manner in which she spat it, must have made the blond stop in his tracks. Ruby begrudgingly turned her head, shifting her own light to illuminate his face into view. "Jaune?"

He did not respond, but instead stood there as still as a statue, staring rather solemnly at his battered snow boots.

"I think we need to talk," he stated finally, though he still did not look up at her.

"Now?" She glanced around, feeling anxious for the first time since this morning. "I think later would be a better time."

"Ruby," he started nevertheless, completely ignoring her restless stance. "We are heading straight towards god-knows-what, in the middle of god-knows-where, and our friends have no clue what we're up to!"

"Hey, you agreed to coming with me! I didn't drag you out here."

But Jaune didn't seem to be in a discussing mood, sounding like he was at his wit's end having the same conversation with Ruby each time she did something reckless and hasty. Bright blue eyes gazed up at her, wearing a glimmer of mild accusation. "Do you really think this is a smart decision to be making as the team leader?"

It took a moment to truly process what he was saying. Ruby, in response, stared at him in absolute astonishment. "I'm not the team leader. You are."

At her answer, he appeared similarly baffled. "Who says?"

"It's just..." She struggled to explain her reasoning. "It's just been decided that way."

"Ruby. _You_ were the one who planned on traveling to Mistral," Jaune stressed. "We're the ones who volunteered to help. I think that makes you the group leader."

"Well, it didn't seem like you were having any trouble passing around orders," huffed Ruby, being more reproachful than she initially meant to sound, "so I think you should just keep being the group leader."

"What?" He recoiled, only for a single second, then fired back immediately, "What are we, in grade school? You think I'm trying to take your place or something?"

"Of course not." She shook her head, realizing that she wasn't making much sense. "You're just doing your job. And I'm..."

A single lump molded inside her throat, one that always formed whenever she thought about Jaune, or the affable thunder-wielding friend of hers, or the group's stealthy ninja who loved to dwell in meditation.

"This is your team, Jaune," Ruby finished quietly, not knowing how else to express her feelings of not belonging.

"This is your team too," he urged her. "At least... For now."

Ruby knew that he meant absolutely no offense as he said this, but she couldn't help but perceive it to be a subtle jab at her throat.

"For now. Yeah, right." Ruby let out a derisive scoff, one that completely derailed from her usual way of speech. Feeling miserable, she went on angrily, "And when do you think team RWBY will be getting together again?"

"Ruby... Come on..."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she snapped, desperately wishing that he would take the message and let her be. "Can we please change the subject?"

"You're the one who brought up team RWBY," he spoke indistinctly.

"Because you're the one who brought up this stupid leader nonsense," she mumbled in return.

"That's because-" His brows rose as his face finally contorted, revealing a glint of anger and frustration that he must have been restraining for her benefit. "That's because you obviously seem to have a problem with it!"

"Well, maybe you should learn to be a better team leader then!"

At her vicious statement, Jaune looked like he had been physically struck by something hard and cold.

Ruby had hit a nerve and she knew it. This was the last thing that she would have ever wanted to mention on their treacherous journey to Mistral. But the past few days had been nothing but an ordeal, and the two, although having been such good and reliable friends during their time at Beacon, found themselves constantly being at each other's throats, the guilt of survival both eating them alive.

She knew, deep down, that he was suffering too, enduring pain just as tortuous and agonizing as the one she had been harboring for the prior months of autumn. But it felt right; it felt _nice_ to direct her anger to a live audience.

"I'm trying to!" Jaune roared. "I'm trying to keep us from falling apart! But if I'm doing such a horrible job at it, why don't _you_ tell me what I'm doing wrong then?"

 _What would you have done, Ruby Rose?_ A voice mocked her from the inside. _What would you have done?_

Everything! She shouted back. She would have done everything differently! If it had been up to her... If it had been her...

Ruby's breaths turned shallow.

Of course she had no right to yell at him. The tragic tolls rose even higher around the people that she cherished and held dear.

Her mother, gone, ripped from her when she had been so young and blissfully ignorant.

Her friend, torn apart by the hands of another beloved confidant whom she could no longer visit in this life.

Her sister, left with one arm short and no motivation to even so much as leave the bed to eat breakfast.

And her partner, _her_ partner, taken away without any farewells, preventing Ruby from seeing her mesmerizing, pale blue eyes early in the morning for every time she awoke...

She had failed them, not Jaune. It had been her. Jaune still had Nora and Ren by his side. What part of her own team had she managed to salvage? Nothing. A terrible leader she had been - she could keep nobody safe.

Because this was the fact: they were no longer ever truly safe. Huntress or not, she could not save everybody's lives, and she knew it, he knew it, everybody knew it. But they had yet to accept it. They had yet come in peace with the idea of their friends, their family members, dropping dead, disappearing into dust one after another until finally none of them would be left standing.

"I would have... I would have..." Ruby tightened her fists, refusing to let herself cry.

But even so, she reasoned, they were working towards a brighter future. In the deepest corners of despair, they were still hanging onto something, to strings of wavering hope.

If only she had her team nearby, Ruby knew that she could do better from now on. Sacrifices would be minimized. Limbs would remain fixed in position. Friends would not be allowed to run away anymore. And no way on earth would her plan of action in battle be to make two of her teammates baits as the other two searched for a fortuitous opening. No, she would have formulated a better plan. She would have acted like a proper leader.

Ruby would have asked Weiss to summon a shield of ice, using the snowy terrain to the heiress's advantage. Fast and swift, they would trap the monsters in their own avalanche, keeping them immobile onto the ground as Blake whisked on by, zigzagging through the monsters with her grappling hook, hauling a very angry and red-eyed Yang at the end of her black ribbon...

But that was in the past.

The truth now was that Jaune was a skilled strategist on his own. And just because she didn't agree with his plans, it didn't mean that they weren't effective. Ren and Nora always trusted his instincts and he never failed in leading the group to escape a scrimmage unharmed. They were a team. They fought together with understanding and flawless collaboration.

In comparison, her own team had been broken, separated into four distinct pieces. Ruby felt apprehensive, not knowing when they would ever become whole again.

Her team. That was what all this anger boiled down to. She missed them. She yearned her sister's warmth, her passionate fire. She wanted to hear Blake's dry comments and see the girl's look of extreme reason in situations so crazy and hectic. And she missed Weiss. She missed the heiress for being exactly who she was: prim, proud, and haughty, but caring and so immensely dependable during times of such emotional turmoil.

"Forget it," whispered Ruby, strength failing her as she unleashed her remaining rage; they petered away and died somewhere along the shadows of the cavern.

Jaune, too, seemed to have little energy left to argue. The next time he spoke, his voice had dropped several pitches in volume.

"This is so stupid," he murmured, sounding apologetic for not having controlled his temper. "I- All I wanted to say was that... We're worried about you."

"We?" Ruby echoed quietly. "Who's we?"

"The entire team," he clarified, then added in an even gentler undertone. "Ruby... Come on. You've been restless and rash for the past couple of days and you haven't been getting enough sleep either."

"I've always been a bit reckless, Jaune." She chuckled weakly. Did she need to remind him of their Initiation at Beacon Academy? The run-in with the Death Stalker? "It kind of runs in the family. You should meet my Uncle Qrow."

"You're happy and giddy all day long, then the next minute you're not. You're bouncing up and down, anticipating our next big fight, and then the next thing you know... You're sitting by the fireplace, looking all sad and...and broken." The blond recounted his observations, sounding like this had been his fault when it certainly had not been so. "Now I know we've all been through a lot. But what worries me most is that you're not willing to express any of it."

"But I'm fine, Jaune," she lied. "What's wrong with not wanting to deal with it? It's sad and depressing...and talking about it won't fix anything, so why should I even bother talking about it in the first place?"

"Because sharing helps."

"Did it help you?" She watched as Jaune turned rigid and motionless. "Did sharing help you deal with what happened to Pyrrha?"

The moment she uttered the name, Ruby instantly regretted it.

There was an emergence of pain flooding into his facial features, first reaching the eyes, then the nose, then the lips until every inch of his countenance was scrunching up into terrible angles, addressing his grief, reflecting his regret and guilt, reminding Ruby just how fresh the wound was, which she had unknowingly cut into with a large butchering knife.

"...Jaune, I-"

And never before had she been more relieved to hear the terrifying cannibalistic growl of a hungry wolf. Both their heads whirled around, staring down the path, searching for the source of the sound.

"Okay..." The blond swallowed. "I definitely heard _that_."

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The Alpha took no pleasure in delaying the obvious, lifting its heavy paws and baring its razor-edged claws and teeth at them as it stomped out of the shadows.

"That's…" He let out an audible gulp. "That's not a raccoon."

"Run!" Ruby shouted. The blond complied, dropping to his kneels as he jumped out of its way, closely dodging the Grimm's set of ravenous teeth. There was a tiny sizzling sound; the huntress noticed in horror that the direction in which she had last heard Jaune speak had been suddenly engulfed by eternal darkness.

"Jaune!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs. "Jaune, where are you?"

Yet nothing but the eerie echoes of her own voice answered her.

"I could really use one of your girly screams right about now!"

She kept her own surviving torch close to her face. Ruby flung it around, carefully inspecting all corners of the cave. In silence both her friend and the Alpha had dissolved without a trace.

No.

No, no, no, _please_ , she begged. She couldn't be responsible for another loss of life. If he died here, it would be her fault. Granted, he hadn't come in here by force, but the boy had obviously followed her out of persistent concern. And how did she repay him? By throwing a tantrum at him... By blowing him off when he could have been in dire need of a friend to talk to himself.

There was an angry howl and a terrified shriek reached her ears. Ruby dropped her own torch, realizing a second later that the screech of fear had been produced out of her own mouth. Blind and helpless, Ruby did the least she could do; activating Crescent Rose, she calmed herself only by a marginal amount by hearing the soft whirring metal sounds of her scythe coming to life.

"Come on, Jaune," she began to wish out loud, emitting her prayers in the form of a rapid, disorganized rant. "Please, be okay. Please, don't die. I am going to be... I will be so mad at you if you die too. Don't you dare die on me. Don't you dare... Don't you _dare_..."

She would miss him. She would miss him just as much as she missed everybody else when they left. So, please, _please_ , don't you dare disappear Jaune.

 _"Ruby."_

Her heart skipped a beat, elated that she had finally received a response, only to feel the blood drain from her body a moment later. The huntress felt her name ringing inside her own eardrums and had no choice but to undeniably identify the voice as that of a young _female._

Whispers began to creep along the walls. Human or not, she could not fully tell. Ruby, unable to decipher them or even begin to detect what was happening, clasped her ears shut. There was nobody in here but her and Jaune. And Jaune, though capable of sounding like he lacked testosterone during panicky moments, would never dare to pull such a prank on her when their nerves had been strained so far.

Ruby had practically been an insomniac for the past week or so, but that didn't mean that she was at the brink of losing her mind now, did it?

 _"Ruby!"_

Her heart, this time, simply stopped beating altogether.

She recognized that voice. Her fingers fell listlessly by her sides, allowing her ears to fully experience the maddening whispers of the cavern. And once she listened, with her eyes closing tightly shut, once she truly focused and listened to them, Ruby was able to make out another clear greeting.

 _"Salutations!"_

Silver orbs snapped open, finding the color of haunting bright green staring straight at her. The ghost of her friend's smile glowed towards her, amiable yet indescribably frightening at the same time.

"P-Penny?" Ruby stuttered, involuntarily taking a step back as she called out the name she had not used since her final days at Beacon. But the moment she had opened her lips, the mirage vanished, fading directly into the foggy mist which shimmered silver through the black stone walls.

Silvery white.

Another memory triggered itself inside Ruby's mind. A great migraine formed across her forehead, but it was nothing in comparison to the lurching feeling deep inside her chest. The sickening thump of stone dropping inside her empty stomach.

The mist engulfed her and despite Ruby's protests, the girl found her eyelids to be closing, inviting in the night that came much too early.

* * *

She woke on the wrong side of the bed. That was the strangest part about the experience; she hadn't stirred while lying on top of her lumpy old sleeping bag. No, she had been aroused by the soft fabric of cotton rubbing against her cheeks. Was that a pillow she sensed? The contact felt so wonderful and homey that Ruby dared not open her eyes, afraid that doing so much as batting a single eyelash would ruin everything and this sweet dream would flutter away from her like butterflies.

But she had to sooner or later. Otherwise, she would never be able to pinpoint the origin of the scream. After all, someone had evidently screamed into her ear, exactly about three seconds ago before she gained consciousness.

Feebly, Ruby Rose let her eyelids quiver, allowing in a few rays of light, just enough to see a hazy outline of a small human figure standing by her side. The way her hair flowed below her shoulders and the way the color of her strands matched the hue of her adorable white night dress... The figure before her bore such a stunning resemblance to...

"...Weiss?" Ruby asked her quietly, unveiling her pupils a bit further to see an expression of pure horror and shock.

In her hands, the young female held a funny looking object. Upon longer inspection, Ruby realized that it was a solid metal bat.

She decided to repeat the question, this time at a greater volume as her mind became more alert by the threat.

"Weiss?"

That was all she could say before the girl started swinging.


	35. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 2)

**New Haven County, Connecticut**

Weiss wished that this was a dream. If it had been so, then everything she had known for the past seventeen years of her life wouldn't be suddenly falling apart.

Two weeks ago, exactly fourteen days previous to this one, her world ceased to revolve. Now here she was, watching as the coffin carrying her mother's body descended into the inner depths of the earth. The young woman kept a hard grip on her own sleeve, counting the seconds pass by as a line of tall men moved forward, all of them collectively holding up large shovels in their hands. They picked from the pile of prepared dirt, digging and moving heaps of it into the hole, steadily covering the wooden surface of the casket with soil.

In the past, someone had once told her that there were five big stages to grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then finally acceptance. Weiss had no idea where she stood. There were no words to describe her current state of mind. Numb would be mildly fitting. Strangely apathetic wouldn't be much of a far stretch. It was concerning.

Distracting herself, she forced her hazy eyes to look anywhere but at the trench, scanning across the sunlit graveyard as she caught her breath. A few people had turned up to say their goodbyes and offer her their condolences. She absorbed them with little thought. Most of the visitors were faces foreign to her, which wasn't surprising as her mother liked to keep to herself. Guests that did show seemed oddly formal, as if they were attending the funeral purely due to obligatory reasons.

It was easier to focus on them though. They had no direct relation to herself or her family. None of their appearances incited inside of her the sense of pitiful nostalgia or, at times, grievous anger and rage. To be more honest with her feelings, the strangers had no effect on Weiss at all; she was altogether too busy centering her bubbling emotions on someone far more blood-related. A person with rigid shoulders, grayish hair, and a stupid brush mustache, a person she would unfortunately be forced to acknowledge as her biological father for the next several years of her life.

In fact, nothing else infuriated the girl more than the sight of the extravagant floral arrangement sent by the man, signed with the card that came with the package. His so-called "gift" stood next to the newly fashioned epitaph of her mother and Weiss had to resist the strongest urge to kick the basket over with her shoes. But understanding that such behavior would be wildly inappropriate during a funeral session, she decided against it.

The service ended neatly, quiet and organized like the character of the woman who had passed on. There weren't any excessively long goodbyes. But for Weiss, she had to experience the hardest three minutes of her life, maintaining her composure as she delivered the prepared eulogy: it was the only one recited, to Weiss's knowledge, but she could have been wrong. After finishing her last syllables, she tore away from the podium, racing to the nearest bathroom to regain her sanity and the ability to speak before returning to the outside world. By then, the sun had moved up the trees and hidden itself under a group of misty clouds.

Droplets of water began to fall from the sky. Everything around her turned gray and blue. People, scattering out of the cemetery, left her behind in a craze to escape from the unexpected spite of Mother Nature. Weiss hated to get wet but she felt less inclined to move for now. And so she stood there, with rain being the only presence around to soothe her aches and burns.

The clock ticked by until her ears caught onto a few indistinct mumbles. It took a moment to register that she was being called. It took even greater time to notice that the rhythmic tapping of water had suddenly ceased along her shoulders.

She glanced up, first noticing the black shade of an umbrella being placed over her head. Weiss's gaze drifted, moving down the metal rod, onto the gloved hands that held the contraption, then finally towards a familiar visage. An older woman stood by her like a reaper, breathing evenly as she stared at her with blue elliptical eyes. She was tall, austere, with a tight bun tied up at the back. The signature white hair alone, however, triggered several memories inside of Weiss.

"Winter." She ended up whispering the name like a curse. "You're here?"

It wasn't wrong of her to sound surprised. It was completely reasonable seeing as that she hadn't seen or spoken to her elder sister for quite some time. A few letters and annual phone calls did not do much to solidify a family bond between the two. But Winter Schnee was standing before her now, appearing just as calm as the day they had last parted words.

"Of course I'm here," the woman accepted the stiff greeting in a similarly inflexible manner. Her face was scrunched up into a constant frown, but deep within her sister's expression, Weiss thought she mistakenly saw a streak of empathy reaching out towards her.

"I am sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Winter told her, taking one step forward before stopping immediately to peer down at the engraved stone. There was an edge of deep regret in her voice, warming Weiss by a diminutive amount. She felt wholeheartedly confused about the unexpected visit. Yes, to anyone else, a daughter visiting her parent's grave on the day of the funeral would be the obviously sane thing to do. But after years of tension and purposeful dodging, specifically cutting ties with their aforementioned mother, it wouldn't have been completely out of the ordinary to simply send a card or a note. After all, that is what their father did, and Winter had lived with him for most of her life to follow in his footsteps.

"It's fine," Weiss mumbled back, her mask of indifference becoming weaker as the conversation lulled.

The two sisters stood by each other in silence. Strangely, after such a lengthy period of separation, it didn't feel as awkward as Weiss envisioned it for all these years. But it did not take long for someone to interrupt their reunion. A foreigner, large and dressed in black from top to bottom, came to them from behind.

"Miss Schnee," he said with a thick German accent. Weiss would not have recognized him, if not for the proud company emblem stitched onto the corner right section of his suit. "Pardon the intrusion, but we were told to pick up-"

"I know." Winter didn't so much as give the man a second glance. She waved him off with a hand of authority. "Just give us another minute."

His mouth instantly snapped shut. Bowing deeply, he shuffled away, resorting to stand behind them awkwardly as Winter, satisfied, turned her attention back towards her sibling.

"Is that why you came?" Weiss asked sharply, decoding the meaning behind the man's unfinished words. "You came to do his bidding?"

Winter did not respond to her directly, merely choosing to direct her piercing glare at a different target, like a distant tree. From this, Weiss had to draw her own worst possible conclusions.

"I don't want to go," stated Weiss eventually. Her sentence had been quiet, a majority of it muffled by the noise of rain. The girl's voice may have even trembled slightly as it carried into the air. Yet Winter had received the message quite clearly; it was bold, resistant, and even a bit vindictive.

"You have to." The answer was handed to her harmlessly, but it still managed to feel biting and frosty. Weiss bit her lips in disdain, being very aware of the fact that her sister may as well have tossed in a couple more words, words along the lines of, "Where do you plan on staying then?" or "There's nowhere else for you to go, you silly girl."

The mood took an even more sour turn from there. Incontrovertibly, by the time and location of their conversation, Winter should have known that her appearance would make the entire situation more horrible. Weiss resented her sister for knowing this fact but still attempting to reconnect with her after all these years of neglect.

"Weiss," her sister addressed her once again. Taking even longer than before, she looked up at Winter. The older Schnee was staring straight ahead, out at the mountain terrain that stretched across the northern range. Her countenance was the epitome of calmness and neutrality. Weiss dared not try and see through it. Blue eyes barely made contact for the subsequent question: "Do you miss her?"

"Is that even supposed to be a question?" Weiss returned coldly. In turn, Winter's brows rose by a quarter of an inch, but Weiss thought that her usage of sarcasm had never been more appropriate.

"Tell me about her," her sister asked, albeit a bit shakily. She sensed the quiver at the end, but pretended not to notice.

"...There's not much to say."

It wasn't that there wasn't much to say. Weiss figured that there just wasn't much that she wanted to say.

"...All right," resigned Winter quietly. And to a carefully trained ear, there was even a hint of disappointment at the end of her voice.

Her sister wasn't heartless; this had been her mother too. And that thought alone cut into Weiss deeply, carving in outlandish patterns around her heart. Tears welled up inside her and she had to blink furiously to make sure none of them fell upon her cheeks. No, Weiss groaned inwardly. She _really_ didn't feel like crying again.

Winter seemed to understand that her grief was private. Her sister shielded her from the crowd of men awaiting her from behind. Her arm bent, stiffly landing across the younger one's shoulders to input a form of reassurance. That was all she could really do. She couldn't take away any of the pain.

"Miss Schnee, please," a deep resonating voice called out to them once again. Slowly, Winter glanced up into the empty eyes of another man, different from the one before. "He is expecting her to arrive by seven o'clock at the latest," he stated, directly and briskly. Resisting the urge to yell at him for having an obvious lack of sensitivity, Weiss heaved in a deep breath of air.

"Fine," she answered curtly, clutching tightly onto the handle of her suitcase, the last of her belongings that hadn't been shipped off already to her father's mansion. This time, Winter did not intervene.

Reluctantly, Weiss allowed herself to be steered away from the graveyards, following the two bulky guards as they led her out to the entrance of the hill. Her elder sister accompanied her, balancing the umbrella above their heads as they walked together in silence. At the end, waiting for Weiss, was a black limousine. The driver hurried out of his seat, stumbling around the hood of the car to open up the door for her as she approached the vehicle.

"Thank you," she said politely, then in great discomfort Weiss entered the car of extravagant luxury. Thankfully, the guards did not accompany her inside; they merely took her luggage and shoved it into the opened compartment of the limo.

"Goodbye, Weiss," said Winter, dismally from behind. A shadow cast over her face as she spoke. "We'll talk again soon."

And only during this final moment of farewell did Weiss feel the twisted sense of appreciation melt into every bit of her cells. Her sister's presence, though unforeseen and out of place, suddenly felt monumentally dependable, especially at the prospect of getting into a car, being sent off to an estate she had never been before since she was a little girl. She considered begging her sister to get in the car with her, pelting Winter with reasons on why she shouldn't be moving to a different home and pleading to let her stay at any flat or hotel close to this neighborhood. But knowing that this request was ridiculous and impossible to accept, she restrained the urge to grovel.

"Okay," she replied with a sullen nod, sorely wishing that she had something more intelligent in mind.

The driver, after closing the door tightly shut, ran around the car once again and got behind the wheel. Clipping on his seat-belt, he readjusted the front-view mirror, making sure that his passenger was clearly visible in its reflection before starting the engine of the car. Weiss scooted uneasily to the far left edge of the seats, away from the group of men standing outside, away from her sister and the shadow of her black crooked umbrella. Away from them all, she rested the side of her temple on the window as she peered outside. Slowly the wheels began to turn and soon the car left the precincts of the graveyard behind.

* * *

Moving to a different city would be an awfully long drive, but the course provided perfectly enough time for Weiss to dry her tears and appease her troubled soul. Parts of her shoes had been soaked by stray puddles, but they hardly bothered her as she tightly bound her eyes shut, hoping to get some sleep before arriving. The vehicle moved forward, silently whisking away her perception of time as it rolled noiselessly across the empty roads. Several times, Weiss felt her consciousness slip. And after each interval of time, she regained her vision to notice that the scenery outside her window had changed, transitioning from wet hinterlands, to endless line of farms, and to empty highway roads. There was barely any traffic until they exited from the highway, reaching into the city after at least four hours of silence and unrest.

By the fifth hour, all Weiss could interpret were passing images of silver and brown buildings. Instead of gazing outside, she instead attended to the dull throbbing echoes forming around her entire forehead. It took another thirty minutes until the car came to a complete halt. Weiss got out before the driver even turned off the engine. Her migraine had been killing her and she could have sworn that her stomach was merely seconds away from heaving out yesterday night's microwaved dinner.

Practicing several practical breathing exercises, Weiss forced the driver to wait a while before allowing him to guide her through the front gates. He left her there, asking her to wait until somebody else arrived, and then hurried along to move the limousine out of the driveway.

Ignoring his wishes, Weiss decided to invite herself in, looking around aimlessly as she moved across the even road.

The place, under heavily guarded metal gates and hidden by thick ever-green trees, was absolutely enormous. The front yard alone stretched for several miles. Beyond it was a three-story house, each floor wide enough that it carried the potential to fit in ten rooms. Weiss could have sworn that the mansion had grown a few sizes since her last visit, or perhaps she had simply remembered it to be smaller when she was little. A perception of a child could never be reliable, she supposed.

As she walked slowly along the path, Weiss's period of admiration and intimidation was cut short as two men hurried towards her; they apologized profusely for their tardiness and then took her suitcase into their hands, placing it on top of an unnecessary trolley as they heaved it along next to her.

Upon reaching the front doors, which were massive - tall enough for a giant to go through - a third man greeted them. This servant, appearing much older and experienced than the other two, could have easily been the head butler.

"Ah. Miss Schnee." Weiss cringed a bit at the title. "Follow me, please."

And without further ado, the man beckoned her inside the house. Weiss hesitated, taking a few cautious steps as she stepped forward. The foyer was grand and divine with a silver chandelier twinkling two stories above them. Funnily enough, the mansion even smelled like money, if that was even possible. Nervous, Weiss glanced around for help, choosing to tweak her attention onto the servant boys who were moving her luggage off from the cart.

"There's no need to worry about that. They will make sure that your belongings are safe and attended to," the butler informed her, as if he thought this was the sole reason for the delay. Weiss nodded weakly. Having no other excuse, she watched the back of the old man's polished dress shoes as they traveled down a hopelessly long corridor. The place was barely lit, and at the end of the path was an equally dim door, its paint color being such a dark brown that it could easily be mistaken for black.

"Your father is waiting for you." In here, he gestured to her.

Weiss stared at him, then at the untouched handle, then back at him in an all too uncertain and fidgety manner. The old man's face were wrinkled so much that his eyes barely seemed opened, but if they had been so then Weiss imagined that he would have been rolling them at her. Understanding her reluctance to do it herself, the butler marched forward, knocked twice, listened carefully for approval, and then turned the knobs.

"Sir. Your youngest daughter has arrived."

Here it was, the moment she had been dreading.

The scene reached its dramatic climax as the hinges creaked and the entrance opened to reveal a spacious room. The area had been decorated by tacky rich-people furniture: a fancy coat rack, a thick round carpet in the center, an unfitting fireplace in the middle of April, and a large rectangular desk situated at the northern end. The man, who had been sitting behind the stationary, raised his head at the intrusion.

"Good," he said, in a shockingly aged and husky voice. "Leave us to talk in private."

The butler nodded swiftly, and then eagerly closed the doors behind him as he left.

A few seconds ticked by. With a hefty sigh, the man stood up from his comfortable chair, taking a few steps to the right before stopping entirely.

Weiss failed to stifle a gasp, as all the images she had held on prior to this meeting vanished completely, being immediately replaced by this new, even more formidable image of her father. Despite the darkness of the room, Weiss could see the man's features quite clearly. Immediately, she recognized the attributes about him that she had inherited: his pale strikingly blue irises and his sharp neckline. The silvery hue of his hair, though grayer than hers, but she imagined this to be an effect of aging more so than anything else.

Yet her memories had failed to remember something so intrinsic about him. Perhaps she had been too young at the time to understand the full extent of it, deleting from her mind one single but utterly important detail.

His mask, that inscrutable mask which had always been impossible to break through. It infuriated her mother whenever Weiss used hers during escalated arguments; now, Weiss knew why. It must have been an awful flashback. For Weiss, it was like looking into a mirror.

She felt a bit sick, the reunion cruelly reminding her brain just how much of her genes originated from her father. It was hard to believe that her mother was even involved in the process. Because all she could see now was him, his figure, and his daunting, absolutely terrifying, presence. How odd the situation was. The man had done nothing since their encounter, and yet he still had the power to make her feel so little: She was six again, and unwanted.

"Hello..." He paused. "Weiss."

Oh good, she thought wryly. At least he remembers my name.

"Hello... Father." Weiss literally had to squeeze the response out of her guts.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He finally settled upon a safe question.

At this, Weiss shouted, "And whose fault is that?" Then promptly dashed forward to kick him, hard, in the shins. "And that's for leaving mom!"

No, no. She shook her head. That had merely been the wild product of her imagination at work. She stayed rooted to the spot while his groins remained perfectly safe and uninjured.

"...Yes. I suppose it has been a long time." Weiss internally screamed. Speaking to him was even more excruciatingly painful than she imagined, on an entirely different level of difficulty compared to conversing with Winter. At least with Winter, she had practiced before in advance.

"Have you been well?"

"Have I- Have I been well?" Weiss felt her eyes bulge out of their sockets in disbelief.

"Nevermind," he muttered darkly. "That wasn't a valid..."

He said a few things underneath his breath, and then cleared his throat as if nothing happened.

"So." The no-nonsense part of his attitude returned. "This is where you will live now. Make yourself at...home."

The word must have sounded so bizarre to him, so much that it didn't feel as nearly as bad when the news reached Weiss, who still kept a healthy distance in between them.

"...Okay." She decided not to argue against that solidified fact.

"And..." He heaved in a deep breath, like the conversation was also draining him of energy and life. "I have registered your name at the local private school. It's small...and you'll be going in mid-semester... But it's a nice prestigious academy. I'll send one of my drivers to escort you there each morning."

Oh, Weiss thought, how wonderful.

"You'll be starting tomorrow. I heard you were pretty gifted at your old school and so I thought you wouldn't want to waste much time to catch up with the students here..." He continued on amidst the silence. "Or will that be a problem with you? Did you want more time to...?"

Rest? Weiss offered inwardly. Sleep? Cope with the memory of burying my recently deceased mother?

"More time to adjust?" He finished calmly.

"...No," she answered firmly, talking like a despondent robot. It took effort to cover up the cracks along her visage, but it wasn't like Weiss to show any traces of vulnerability. "Everything's fine."

"I see. Then... Do you... Do you have anything to say to me?" And for that moment, the two stared directly into each other's face. The man seemed to be genuinely asking her, causing Weiss to temporarily drop her guards, considering if the man wasn't entirely dead inside and still carried on a parent's undying wish for a loving reconciliation. Then Weiss harshly recalled his great absence from her life, his less-than-fatherly touch that she barely even remembered out of her childhood. She quickly told herself to stop, "Do not fall for his ways of manipulation."

"...No," she instead told him. "Is that all you had to say to me?"

"That is all," her father concluded brusquely, appearing suddenly deeply unsatisfied. "You can head to your room upstairs. It's been prepared for you since last week."

"That's...nice of you," she carefully phrased her sentence. "Thank you," she said, without an ounce of sincerity. Then she dismissed herself from his office, almost sprinting out in an extremely unladylike fashion.

The old butler was waiting for her by the outer door frame. "Did you want a tour of the house?"

"No," she said shortly. "Could you just take me to my room please?"

At her answer, he gave her a long hard look, with a twinge of patronizing pity, then said, "Right this way, miss Schnee."

It was a fair walk up the stairs. Judging from the amount of gold and money her father spent into building this place, Weiss wondered why an elevator hadn't occurred to him. Then again, as she traveled to the third and final floor, she noticed the sparse decorations, the absence of paintings and lamps and bookshelves that flourished on the second and ground floor. Weiss decided that an elevator was never needed for her father; he didn't seem to make much use of the third floor, which probably influenced his decision when deciding the location of her room.

The butler informed her gruffly once they arrived at their destination. He didn't need to open it for her this time as Weiss gladly twisted the knob, practically racing inside the space where she could at least enjoy some privacy. The chamber was enormous compared to the place she had previously stayed. In her defense, it didn't need to be furnished so much. She just needed a place to breathe as an individual.

"Call us if you need anything," the old man told her. She nodded briefly, closed the doors, and locked the handle as well.

At last, there was peace.

Quickly, she took off her boots, her stockings, and her dreary set of black clothing. Diving into her suitcase, she searched for her favorite light blue sleeping gown, threw it on over her languid body, and then flung herself onto the prim mattress. Weiss ignored the set of garments that had been bought for her. She practically slashed at them, pushing them off of the fancy covers of her bed.

It was dumb. It was dumb of her to think that she could endure this.

The coldness threatened to spread from her stomach, dangerously attempting to take over every inch of her skin. She turned over and lay on it, observing the wooden patterns of the floor, wishing that her entire life had been a part of the dreadful dream or an extremely elaborate prank. Then there was the sensation of choking, akin to wearing a dangerously tight corset around her torso, cutting off all methods of transporting oxygen to the rest of her limbs. Weiss wasn't sure if her body could take anymore of this.

Her stomach rumbled. Weiss realized she had skipped two meals, but strangely she felt no desire to eat or chew. Anything she ate would come back up again. Staring blankly up at the white ceiling, she lied in silence as the area grew darker. The warmth of the sun had long since left the room.

Through the curtainless window, she saw the moon, leaning towards a forsaken crescent shape. No stars sang or danced around it.

Someone on the moon reminded her that she was alone.

The thought processed uneasily inside her like a frigid gust of wind blowing through the opened glass, seeping through the corner of the white window sills.

How was she supposed to stay here on her own? She would lose her mind. She would go insane. This was not where she belonged. This was not... This was not her home. Her home was where her loved ones belonged. And home was where she was loved back.

In this mansion, there was only the presence of an unwelcoming man, a man whom she could only call her biological parent at best. Not that it mattered to _him_ ; he never wanted her to begin with.

Weiss crawled upwards to the frame of the bed, choosing to smash a pillow over her lips in order to muffle out her moans. The effects of her ordeal, the faces of all the people that tortured to her, swarmed inside her, angering and confusing her, making her feel shamefully tired and vulnerable to the point where she could pass out.

Sleep would take her soon. The bed, staying true to its expensive price, was marvelously soft. Still, the comfortable mattress did little to make her feel more alive than dead.

* * *

Weiss woke up the following morning, groggy and wishing very much that she could just lie in bed and forget the world around her existed.

It would be nice if she were dead, she thought. Dying in her sleep would have been such a peaceful alternative. She didn't have anything arranged for her, did she? There was no reason to get up...

 _Wake up, Weiss. It's time to go to school._

School. What a minor problem that was at the moment. A few weeks prior to today, she would have been up already, going over her class notes hours before attendance even started. But now such daily activities appeared trivial in her eyes. I can start a few weeks late, she argued with herself.

 _Then you'll be even further behind! You've missed two weeks of school already! Imagine the workload you'll have to do! Future you is going to very sorry!_

But present me is going to be ecstatic, she scoffed.

 _A proper education is important for a girl who wants to survive out there on her own. You're not planning on staying here, living off your father's money for the rest of your life, are you? That's what your mother did until she went m-_

Oh, shut up brain.

Angrily, she kicked her blankets away from her legs, feeling a bit hot and stuffy. Then, as if it were decided that she would be hogging the bed for the rest of the evening, Weiss turned on her left side, wishing for sleep to embrace her once more.

Instead, she felt an odd draft of air tickle the tip of her nose. It was warm and short, like a puff of heated air.

Musing on what it could be, Weiss blinked, eyes opening lazily to find a young girl's bare face existing merely a few centimeters away from her own.

Letting out a tiny shriek, Weiss had jolted backwards, nearly dropping out of her bed in fright. Sleeping Beauty, in the meantime, did little but stir, then seemed to happily go back to sleep.

Breathe, Weiss, _breathe_.

There must be a logical explanation to this. There has to be.

She was in bed with another girl.

In bed. With another girl. Weiss shook her head furiously. No, nothing like that. Thank heavens, they were both dressed. Then it took a second to recognize what a ridiculous train of thought that was. Honestly Weiss, what _are_ you thinking?

Had she been told about this beforehand? Had she been so dazed and traumatized that she forgot that she would be sharing her living quarters with a roommate? But no, when she had entered it just yesterday night, the room had been empty and unoccupied. She glanced over at the door. It appeared to remain locked.

This didn't make sense at all. Perhaps this was an example of one of those charity cases large corporations liked to take on to improve their company image. The girl could be homeless and her father could be allowing her to stay for the time being. But then Papa Schnee really didn't seem to be the charitable and generous type, which meant that the girl would be breaking and entering: a thief that grew much too tired, or perhaps just a crazy loon who liked to sleep in other people's beds whenever she saw an opportunity. This was a plausible answer as Weiss had, unknowingly, left the window opened last night.

Weiss audibly gasped as another lunatic theory came racing into mind: Had her father reproduced? The idea itself appalled her, even if her parents had been separated for as long as she could remember. And now that her mother was truly dead to him, who was there to stop him? But no, biologically then the girl should be much younger. And nothing about the girl's physical features - the reddish black hair, the sharp chin, and the manner in which she dressed - bore a resemblance to a Schnee. She even wore a vibrantly red cape around her neck. No side of her father's generation would ever choose to wear such an eccentric outfit.

"Unngh..."

Weiss broke out of her thoughts, hitting the pause button on her list of possible conspiracies as the mysterious girl beside her tossed and turned.

The trespasser, to her slight relief, was fairly harmless in appearance. She wasn't armed, which would have been a silly thought in the first place since the girl looked young enough to be in middle school, maybe a high school freshmen if she were to make a stretched guess.

Nonetheless, she was still a stranger. No matter how small or innocent she may seem, this was a girl she had never seen before in her life...

Weiss threw herself out of bed, realizing just a bit too late that her sudden movement would have awoken the girl even further. She heard another low moan escape from the girl's lips as she rubbed her face deeper into the pillow. The stranger stirred... Then finally, her eyelids fluttered open, squinting directly at her with alarmingly _silver_ irises.

She began muttering incoherently, still under the heavy influence of last night's slumber. Taking a chance, Weiss shifted uncomfortably towards the back closet; keeping her strained eyes on the stumbling stranger, her right hand thrust itself around anxiously, searching for anything in the wardrobe that could be used as a defensive weapon. Her fingers wrapped around a smooth metal handle, which she pulled on without further hesitation.

"...Weiss?"

She definitely heard what the girl said this time around. Though her blood ran cold at the abrupt, accurate, addressing of her own name, it did not stop her tense body from swinging the bat towards the stranger, adrenaline shooting outwards at such an early period of the day.

"Ow!" The bat made harsh contact with the girl's temple. A loud thump echoed across the room. Its victim yelped in pain, and then stumbled out of bed, falling quite ungraciously onto the hardwood floor while clenching the side of her head that had turned red.

"What was that for?" The girl growled angrily, fiercely rubbing her injury as she remained glued to the floor.

"W-who... Who are you?" Weiss, finally regaining her senses, pointed the end of her weapon at her, ordering in a terribly non-threatening manner. "Who are you and what are you doing in my father's house?"

"What are you talking about, I don't-" The girl grimaced, like she was suffering from a wave of thick nausea. Perhaps she had swung the bat a bit too hard.

"Who are you and what are you doing...here?" She pursed her lips. "In my bed," she emphasized after a tiny afterthought.

The girl, in turn, downright ignored her questions. Her eyes shot wide open, jogged by a sudden flood of memories. Then the girl, to Weiss's horror, sprung avidly to her feet, advancing towards her in a rapid motion.

"Weiss?" The girl asked, appearing thunderstruck. "Weiss, is that you?"

"Uh..." Weiss trailed off, unsure whether or not she should try and actively deny her own identity to chase off this obviously confused and mad girl.

"Oh my god. It _is_ you!" Her face was starting to wrinkle, like a piece of paper that would be rolled up into a ball before being thrown away. "You're here... You're _here_."

Then the girl did the last thing Weiss ever expected her to do. She lunged forward and wrapped her flailing arms around her, tightly locking her into a heartwarming embrace. The action had been done with such precision and such speed that she could not even dare dream to ever dodge it.

Weiss's heart plummeted into the ground, then immediately began to thump uncontrollably. She was being hugged. She was being hugged by an apparent mental patient who, by coincidence or not, was familiar with her first name.

Great big vibrations passed throughout her body. Weiss realized that it was because the stranger had started to cry, bawling like an uncontrollable baby in front of her.

"You- You were g-gone. And B-Blake was gone and Yang- Yang is- and I- I missed you so much- and, and..." There was a short snort of laughter in between the wretched sobs. "And I've been _dying_ to see you for months, but I didn't want a bruise to remember it by!"

"That's...enough," she exhaled, squeezing out words as the embrace tightened without warning. The hold was beginning to hurt her. "I said... That's... Enough!"

And with a harsh push, Weiss threw the girl off from her chest. To say that the girl looked hurt would be a major understatement.

"What- But Weiss..." Tears fell fluidly from the young one's eyes. "Didn't you... Didn't you miss me?"

"What are you talking about?" Weiss let out an exasperated sigh, and then asked for the fourth time in a much more angry fit: "Who. Are. You?"

Tears immediately ceased to fall.

"You don't…remember me?"

"I've never seen you before in my life," Weiss stated truthfully. This, undoubtedly, was the wrong way to break the news. As if provoked by a wicked slap, the girl became fueled with emotions once again.

"It's me, Ruby. Ruby Rose, remember?" She took a few steps forward and Weiss, fearfully, took a few steps back. "Your partner? From Beacon? Your BFF?"

Beacon? Was that supposed to be a name of a city? And what was this about them being friends? "Why don't you stop sprouting nonsense and answer the question," demanded Weiss, feeling more powerful as she watched the girl before her shrink two sizes.

"I… I am answering your question!" The girl named Ruby retorted after a violent choking sound. "What- What's the matter with you?"

"What's the matter with _me_? I'm not the one breaking and entering, wearing some weird..." Weiss gaped at the girl's attire, noticing just how abnormal it was, "some weird Gothic dress in the middle of the 21st century!"

"It's a combat skirt..." Weiss thought she heard the girl mutter, but seeing as it didn't make much sense either, she chose to pay no heed to it.

"What is going on?" The girl cried woefully. "Weiss. Who did this to you? What happened while I was gone? Did someone mess with your head?"

There it was again. "You- How do you know my name?"

"How do I…? Weiss!" The girl kept repeating herself like a broken record, perhaps believing that by saying it enough, she could turn the conversation around in her favor. "You're scaring me. I- How did I even end up here?"

Running a trembling hand through her bangs, the girl finally tried to remember her recent whereabouts. "I was with Jaune, and Nora, and Ren... We were travelling to Mistral together, to Haven. Then, then there was this cave... And- And I thought I saw..."

She looked up, pupils dilating as they streaked around the room in a frightened, puzzled daze. "And now I'm here? ...How did I get here?"

Heaven knows, thought Weiss.

"I don't get it." Ruby moaned. "Which kingdom are we in?"

"Kingdom?" Weiss repeated the word dumbly, and then realized how stupid it sounded. "What do you mean kingdom? Where are you from, the Middle Ages?"

"The Middle-" The girl, who in Weiss's opinion should be in no position to be raising voices, began to raise her voice. "Do you seriously not know what I'm talking about?"

"No, I don't!"

"You… You don't remember anything?" The girl's expression warped from disbelief to beyond worry. "What's the last thing you remember? Do you remember what happened at Beacon...? Don't you... Don't you remember fighting the Grimm?"

"The Grimm?" Weiss frowned. "You mean like the fairy tales?"

"No, not the fairy tales!" Ruby shouted angrily. "The monsters!"

That was it.

That was the final straw. Weiss should have known from the start of this conversation that the girl in front of her was simply out of her mind. Here she was, fourteen or fifteen years of age, still fantasizing wildly about castles and monsters under the bed.

"I don't know how you managed to get past security but I will tolerate no more of this," said Weiss through gritted teeth. She held up the baseball bat once more, finding more confidence in her strength after having observed the girl's meek demeanor. "Now, get out of this house before I call the guards. And don't think I won't! ...My father's rich!"

The warning sounded silly as it came out of her own mouth. 'Ruby' must have thought so too.

"Yeah, I know your dad's rich," the girl drawled. "But does he know you've gone crazy? Look outside- Our world is about to go to war and you're-"

Her neck jerked towards the outside view, hoping it would strengthen her point. It did the exact opposite, however, as her jaws dropped, slacking open loosely like a broken nutcracker.

"This… This place doesn't seem right," the girl noted quietly. "Where am I?"

"Why are you asking me?" Weiss rebutted.

"This isn't Vale… Maybe it's… Is this Atlas? I've never been there before, I mean not since I was little and my dad took us to this famous weapon convention... But it didn't look this..." Weiss could practically see the fear and desperation beginning to burn inside the girl. "Did you bring me to Atlas, Weiss? I didn't know your glyphs could do that."

"I didn't bring you anywhere. And I don't recognize any of these strange regions you keep mentioning but this is America," she answered hotly. "And in America, we call this place Washington D.C."

"Where?" The girl became even more confused. "What kind of kingdom is that?"

Who in the world didn't know where Washington D.C. was? Weiss wondered in open horror. Even if she was a foreigner, that sort of thing was common sense, wasn't it? Like Paris in France, or Rome in Italy. After all, the girl was a fluent English speaker...

"It's not a kingdom. We call it a city," she tried to explain patiently. What was she doing anyway, conversing with this stranger when she could be, like a sane person, calling for help!

The girl in front of her was definitely distracted enough for Weiss to sneak off unnoticed. The guards, she could call the guards. They would know what to do. But how was she supposed to summon them? Would they be standing outside her room? No, they would have surely heard the ruckus by now and knocked on her door to ask if anything was wrong. They were probably downstairs, carrying out her father's orders like dogs. What did it take then? Did she have to scream like a damsel in distress to draw their attention? It was barely six o'clock in the morning. How angry would her father be if she awoke the entire estate... Weiss never dreamed of causing a disruption this early into her stay at the Schnee mansion.

"Weiss."

She glanced up at the pair of stunningly silver eyes.

"Huh?"

A firm grip formed around her pale wrist. She dropped the bat in shock.

"Come with me."

There was a harsh pull, after which the girl's surprisingly strong arms swept her off her feet.

"What? Wait- What?!"

And before she knew it, she was being carried out the opened window, bridal style.

Weiss screamed as loudly as she could. They were at least three stories up! And it was rock-hard cement at the bottom! They were inevitably going to crash and bleed and fracture bones and crack a skull or-

...Or they would land on the ground, perfectly, gently, and noiselessly.

Weiss thought she saw a wave of rose petals fly by as the mysterious girl landed on her two feet, making the impossible feat seem as easy as eating cake.

She stared up at the top balcony from which they fell, then back at the asphalt, feeling utterly relieved and grateful that this girl had been there to catch her fall...

Wait. Catch her? Weiss's glare turned murderous. Hold on a second! She was the one who threw her out the bloody window in the first place!

"What are you? Crazy?" Weiss shrieked, struggling to free herself from the girl's tense arms, but failing miserably. Instead, she resorted to more shouting. "I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you! Then they'll take you to a mental hospital for a much needed check up!"

"I'm not crazy. I'm just..." The girl grew impatient, no longer wishing to argue before attaining what she wanted.

"Put me down this instant!" She bellowed thunderously. This time, to her surprise, the girl obeyed.

"I just need some answers." Her kidnapper begged.

"Get away from me!" Weiss shouted in return, swatting the girl's hands away from her shoulders before running off in the opposite direction. Thankfully, they had landed closely into the yard. She saw the familiar pavements of stone and remembered the fragrance of the flower gardens. Bushes, in various shapes and forms, served as a maze. Dodging around them, hopefully loosing her kidnapper in the process, Weiss managed to find her way out.

Her feet, feeling incredibly bare, hurt and stung as she used them to race across a field of sharply cut grass. Nonetheless, she did not relax her muscles until she could careen around the corner of the house, sprinting towards the front entrance like an animal being chased. She tried to rip the door open, but of course it was locked.

"Hello!" She pounded, viciously yanking on the knocker. "Can somebody please open the door?"

It took several more tries before Weiss could hear the blessed sound of an unlatching lock.

"Miss Schnee?" It was the old butler from last night. "What are you doing outside?"

"Nevermind that!" A panicky Weiss almost knocked him over as she rushed inside. "There's- There's somebody in the yard! An- An intruder!"

The butler raised a thinning eyebrow, but asking no further questions, called two of the cleaning staff over and ordered them to go check. Weiss ignored the cup of tea one of the kitchen ladies offered to her in hopes of calming her nerves. Keeping her heart in check, she waited for good news.

When the men arrived back, however, their hands were empty of any figures with red cloaks.

"There was nobody there," the servant reported. "Are you sure you saw someone?"

"I- Yes, of course. I wouldn't be making this up," Weiss huffed angrily. "I'm not lying! There was a girl in my room! And she knew my name and she was acting crazy! And then she jumped out the window onto the..."

Weiss stopped herself, realizing that she was beginning to sound more and more like the insane one. Upon hearing her story, the surrounding help began to wear extremely skeptical expressions.

"She...jumped out the window?" The servant responded with little humor. Few people did this early in the morning. "But your room is on the top floor."

"I know that," Weiss snapped. "But I... I..."

Logically, a person couldn't leap off the third floor balcony, carrying a person in hand, and not twist an ankle or two. Weiss knew this. But what she had seen and what she had learned were bound to clash together, being on such opposite ends of the pole but forcing to coexist somehow.

"We'll search again, just to be sure." The old butler nodded at the same group of servants who, begrudgingly, left through the same way they came in. "Should we take this matter to your father as well?"

"Is he here?" Weiss asked, not knowing which answer would satisfy her the most.

"No, miss. He left early in the morning for an important business meeting."

"...Then there's no need to bother him. I don't want him thinking that I'm a-" Weiss stopped herself, and then quickly changed the subject. "I- I must be sleep deprived. Forget I said anything at all."

Quickly, she turned on her bare feet. Feeling self-conscious, Weiss edged towards the main staircase.

"I'll be going upstairs now," she said, then added shakily, "Please don't disturb me."

She left the crowd in a mess of confusion and doubt. Running up the stairs, Weiss hesitated before making a small opening through the doors. Between the narrow gap, she pressed her face in closer and searched around the chamber.

She checked and double-checked before entering.

Breathing deeply, Weiss looked around the empty room - her room which had been freed of the mysterious girl clothed in red.


	36. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 3)

To Ruby, the situation called for some serious deductive reasoning. But no matter how much thought she put into the process, there was only one conclusion that she could arrive to in the end. This girl, this girl who was standing before her now, _had_ to be her best friend. The silver hair, the unmistakable hue of electric blue in her eyes, even that expression that always seemed closer to a frown than a smile - everything about her screamed Weiss.

Ruby had been imagining this day for a month, the chance in which she would be able to see her partner again. That tiny shred of hope was the only thing that kept her awake. Take that from her and she had nothing.

 _"Who. Are. You?"_

Yet the deep sense of happiness and warmth she achieved upon her partner's discovery slid away effortlessly. If possible, it felt wrong. This hadn't been the kind of heartfelt reunion Ruby had been envisioning since their unbearable separation. Because despite her friend having earned a notorious reputation for being cold and biting, enough to be the reigning Ice Queen, the heiress still cared deeply for the team. And to care meant to allow even for the tiniest sign of glee to show upon seeing Ruby, who had been her inseparable companion for so long.

But emotions, even those that could have been forced, just weren't there. Ruby could sense the elation inside of her instantly sink, submerging into a chasm of oblivion as none of it was reciprocated by the person in front of her. If the absence of friendly affection hadn't been enough of a warning signal, then the vehement denial of the memories they had built together should have undeniably done the trick.

 _"I've never seen you before in my life."_

That line struck Ruby in a manner that could not be described in this life. A befitting metaphor for it would be a toxic bomb. Her partner's statement slid inside her ears like poison, threatening to spread and shut down every remaining nerve cell and blood vessel that kept her feeble body moving. And the thought of the claim containing even a single percentage of truth... Nothing terrified Ruby more than that.

Yes, she hadn't been the best leader. But nowhere along the list - a very long and explicit list recounting her recent mistakes and self-doubt - was there a single note pointing towards amnesia. The first instinctive response had been worry. Then upon further interrogation, Ruby realized that the gravity of the problem went well beyond her care. This was not a joke. This was not a problem that could be cured by concern alone.

Blame.

It would be logical to find the person who did this to her partner, extract answers from the nefarious villain, and restore her friend's sanity. But who would be responsible for such a plot? Weiss wasn't aware that she was suffering from memory loss at all.

Beacon Academy. Their friendship. Even the Grimm. Weiss Schnee had lost them all.

Ruby tried to understand when and how the head injury could have taken place. Had it been before or after she ran up the tower in order to save- No. Perhaps her older sister hadn't been entirely truthful when she said that Weiss was merely shipped off to her original home. She could have been hurt after Ruby left her behind in a sea of Grimm. Or had it been something here in Atlas that caused the damage?

"I don't know how you managed to get past security but I will tolerate no more of this." Weiss appeared to be running out of threats to tell. "Now, get out of this house before I call the guards. And don't think I won't! ...My father's rich!"

Weiss's father.

Surely the heiress's father, the Dust monopolist, would know what the problem was and would be working to help his youngest daughter with her mental condition. Ruby would talk to him in private, demanding answers and a promising solution. But that strategy, too, soon drifted out of her mind.

Something desperate and despairing latched onto Ruby, telling her that letting the heiress out of her sight would be, and always will be from now on, a terrible idea.

There was no use arguing anymore. She would have to show Weiss the truth.

"Yeah, I know your dad's rich," Ruby growled. "But does he know you've gone crazy? Look outside- Our world is about to go to war and you're-"

Ruby gestured out the windowsill, and then dramatically paused.

Hold on. She had just been exploring a damp cave with Jaune, arguing and chasing down an Alpha. How in the world did she even end up here? This place, whatever kingdom it was, it was the first time Ruby ever laid eyes upon it.

A few phrases rambled out of her mouth. Ruby recognized them to be inconsistent expressions of her own thoughts, each of them attempting to explain to herself and Weiss what had happened to her during the past fifteen minutes of twilight.

No. This was wrong, and the situation remained equally unaccountable. Ruby made up her mind. Staying in this room certainly wasn't helping either of them.

Knocking the heiress off of her feet would never be a justifiable act in any given universe. But granted, the situation called for much bravery and haste. Ruby, expecting the worst rebuking of her lifetime, took the reluctant Ice Queen into her arms and ran head first out the opened window. Air swished against their clothes and arms. Screaming directly into her ear, Weiss unconsciously clutched onto her, squeezing her arms around her chest as they descended with speed. Despite the extra load than usual, Ruby managed to find her balance and touched the ground with both her feet. Their safe landing seemed to calm the heiress temporarily, only out of pure shock and relief. Once both prior emotions left her system, the heiress went back to yelling at her.

"What are you? Crazy?" Weiss shrieked, pushing violently against her stomach.

"I'm not crazy," Ruby barely wheezed out. "I'm just..."

"Put me down this instant!" And at that tone of authority, even Ruby had no other choice but to let her go.

"I just need some answers," she said frantically.

Weiss, however, refused to believe her.

"Get away from me!" Ruby felt damaged, her hand falling listlessly to her side as Weiss had slapped at it. Hopeless, she stared at the heiress, hoping that somehow she could communicate to the heiress that she was telling the truth. Yet the telepathic message went unheard. Weiss, still panting heavily, retreated from her, and then sprinted off at an astonishingly agile pace. Ruby, after a minute of demoralizing trauma, recovered enough to follow.

Heavy footsteps were heard across the quiet garden. Her ears caught onto the noise at once, fathoming that the steps were too weighty and loud to belong to her partner. Without apprehending exactly what she was doing, Ruby hid her body behind a bush, in perfect timing as two suited men stumbled out of the maze of bushes. Looking like they were on a hunt, they searched around the corners of the house. Calming her heart, Ruby tried to figure out who they were.

Security.

Weiss had called for security.

It hurt Ruby to think that she was being treated as the enemy rather than a friend, but she knew better than to show her face now. The guards didn't seem like they were in the mood to sit and chat. Tiptoeing around, Ruby watched them in stealthy silence as she reached around her back. Her heart plummeted another hundred meters.

She had lost Crescent Rose. Her weapon must be at the cave where she had last made use of it.

Feeling even more vulnerable, Ruby took out her scroll instead. The first step would be to get out of here and call for reinforcement. She attempted to turn on her device but even that plan failed her. The hologram screen flashed once and then died. It had been working just yesterday! She howled in frustration.

Where was Jaune? Would he still be at the cave or would he have been sent here as well? Ruby prayed that it was the latter, wishing that her friend hadn't been torn into pieces by the raging Alpha... But if the blond had experienced the same effect, then shouldn't he have been present in Weiss's room as well?

"There's nothing here!" A voice called out from behind.

The men, after a while of searching, had given up. Muttering darkly to themselves, they sauntered off the stony paths. Ruby took the chance to leap out of the thorny bushes. Using her semblance, she kicked off into the air, running up the tall garden wall and landing perfectly across the vertical obstacle. Scurrying out of the narrow alleyway, Ruby followed the outline of the gates until she could see the Schnee estate from its anterior point of view. It was enormous, Ruby observed in awe. The place was at least three times bigger than her house in Patch. She had always speculated about her partner's mansion whenever Weiss mentioned the types of services she had grown accustomed to back at home. Now, everything made sense.

Quickly, Ruby shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be marveling at her partner's family wealth. Answers, she needed answers...

Thankfully, several humans were outside walking along the cement-paved streets. It felt strange, seeing other people after a few weeks of wandering around the woods with only Ren, Nora, and Jaune for company. Feeling resolved, Ruby dashed into one of them, a middle-aged man who had been moving towards his parked car.

"Um, sir? Excuse me!" As she waved, the man physically flinched in surprise. "Hi. So sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you can tell me where I am?"

"Uh..." He stared at her clothes in an incredibly judging manner. "Uh... What?"

"What part of Remnant are we in?" She clarified.

"...Is this some kind of joke?" The man gave her a disparaging glance. "I think it's time for school, kid."

"But I..." Ruby was at a loss for words. "I don't understand... Miss? Do _you_ know where we are? Are we in Atlas?"

The next pedestrian merely gave her an uncomprehending look before hurrying off with an apology. A crowd was beginning to form. Several more bystanders were staring at her now, stopping their daily duties to peer over at Ruby with curious round eyes.

"It's a simple question, people!"

Apparently it wasn't, as no one approached her with a proper reply.

Growing scared, Ruby ran past them, choosing to find a bigger crowd to engage with.

It was strange. Something about the environment, the world, had subtly changed. Ruby couldn't pinpoint what the minor differences were but they were present for sure.

Was it the buildings and streets that appeared more rustic than the modern roads of Vale city? Ruby searched around but hardly saw any holographic lampposts or bus stops in the neighborhood.

Even the people grew foreign to her now. Perhaps it was the lack of color in people's hairs. Or perhaps it was the lack of diversity. She understood that not a lot of Faunus would like to live near the Schnee mansion. Ruby suspected that Weiss's father may even have something to do with the living arrangement, but it was still unsettling that not a single Faunus was in sight.

Everything - the streets, the stores...

Yes, something was definitely off.

There was peace.

Children whizzed across the streets on their bikes, gleefully travelling down sloped curves as they swerved. The buses on the road advertised for soda pops instead of the usual campaign for Dust vials or weaponry. There was neither concern nor fear for what was upcoming next.

Her father had told her that most of Vale had been deserted, consumed by the worry of potential Grimm invasions. Uncle Qrow informed her that Atlas was in chaos, having taken most of the blame for what happened at Beacon Academy. Vacuo? Ruby had never been there before, but she knew that most of the area was covered in desert lands. Mistral. The place she had been heading to with team Juniper. Whatever condition it was in, Ruby doubted that it would be in such state of merriment.

Ruby Rose wasn't sure how it had happened and how it was even possible, but the people of this town had left the world of Remnant behind.

* * *

It was clear that Weiss must act completely calm and sensible the next time she walked down the stairwell. It was the least she could do after wreaking havoc too early in the morning and her poor reputation at this household was already hanging by a thread.

All things considered, it took several multiple tries until Weiss could fully become calm. Although the mysterious girl had vanished, her disappearance concerned Weiss even more, causing her to doubt whether she had imagined the entire event. Yet the bat was still lying on the ground and her bed was in an untidy mess. The conversation which involved the subject of monsters, fighting, and wars still rang inside her ear, feeling too real to be perceived as auditory hallucinations.

Weiss didn't feel safe being alone. She wasn't sure when or where the girl – Ruby Rose she called herself – would pop out again. The only action Weiss could do was shutting her window, locking it tightly and then closing the curtains around it like a done deal. If security cameras and door locks weren't enough to keep the girl out, then Weiss hardly deemed drapery as a solution to her problems. But upon second thought, it made her feel oddly safer when she blocked out the scenery of the world from her third floor cell. Claiming that she wasn't in any mortal danger, Weiss urged her body to move on.

Peering into a mirror, she fixed the pin aligning her navy plaid shirt, flattened the collars of her white shirt, then finally buttoned up the front of her black cardigan. The uniform felt soft but stiff, like all new clothes did when meeting its first owner. With her fingers, Weiss delicately brushed her bangs, turning them from right to left, hoping to make a bigger difference than it usually did. Nevertheless, none of what she did helped in covering up the fact that she had hair so light that it looked practically white. It was never possible to detract attention from herself and Weiss had given up on trying.

After checking her reflection once or twice more, Weiss carefully traveled downstairs, keeping her steps light like a child would on Christmas morning.

She happily noticed that the foyer was empty and dismissed of all servants. A few bustles came from a hallway opposite to her left side. Judging by the delicious smell of butter and bread, Weiss guessed that the particular corridor led to the kitchen. Yet the morning tea Weiss consumed had been enough to fill her tiny stomach. Avoiding the direction of trailing voices, Weiss headed straight for the front door.

The rest was easy. Slipping away from the mansion, Weiss took in the fresh air of cut grass and morning dew, the scent of sprinklers drizzling water over the decorative daisies and lilies. The driver from yesterday evening had been waiting by the gates. The man, leaning against the vehicle, was munching on a whole grain bagel, chewing loudly as he turned the pages of his newspaper. Weiss tried to keep quiet, not wanting to disturb the man's peaceful breakfast session, but the driver's eyes soon darted towards her as she approached. Choking for a moment, he swallowed most of what was left inside his mouth and then bowed deeply. She apologized for intruding on his meal, but he was more than willing to drop what he was doing, opening the rear door of the car which, to Weiss's great relief, wasn't the lavish limousine from last night.

It was a good fifteen minute drive from the estate to the school. Arguably, the drive would have taken less time if they hadn't stopped at every traffic light available. Weiss just seemed to be having one of those days. Dismally, she stared out the window, watching the streets and stores pass by as the car ran along the main road.

She arrived a minute before eight. The school, from a closing distance, struck Weiss as a small but respectable place for education. Painted, mostly with a light brown color, the building conveyed a very modest and cozy exterior. Two school buses were parked inside a limited car lot. Consequently, the driver let her out by the road.

The entrance buzzed of multiple voices, a motley of interacting teens. Soon she heard a shrill bell ring overhead and everyone, the juniors and the seniors, ran inside in a hurry. Weiss decided not to join them, wanting to take her time as she wasn't sure where to go.

The inside was even plainer with no defining landmarks save the few numbers on the classroom doors. It took effort to find the school office, which was situated at the far right corner of the first floor. Stepping to it, Weiss was going over her own introductory speech when the silence was broken by a series of angry shouts.

Weiss turned the corner to see who had been arguing. Two figures stood inside the main office. Standing only a foot away from each other, they were engaged in some heated debate.

On the right side was a tall woman, who must be a stern teacher at this school. She stood up straight, her posture reminding Weiss of a strict ruler that refused to be bent. Her age was indecipherable; if she was old, she had aged quite beautifully, her skin being almost as smooth as her tightly tied bun.

On the receiving end was a female student, whose hair was wild enough to begin an entire story of its own. She was a blonde of medium height, pulling off a strange look where the bottom half of her attire was a plaid skirt, yet on top was a casual orange t-shirt with a graffiti-like heart pattern.

"Aw, can't you give me a break?" The blonde begged. "My uncle spilled sauce all over my shirt last night."

"Rules are rules." Crossing her arms, the woman's expression remained impassive as before. "You are required to be in proper dress code once the bell rings. Now, did the bell ring?"

"Yes, but-"

"And were you dressed appropriately when the bell rang?"

"Well, no, but still-"

"Then I believe we have settled the matter."

The blonde, who looked as if she still had a lot to say about the subject of discussion, decided to drop silent in deep reluctance. Her lilac eyes instead gazed a bit sideways and spotted Weiss, waiting awkwardly by the threshold to be noticed.

Being rude, the girl pointed. "Uh... I think she wants to talk to you."

"Hmm?" The stern woman pivoted on her bullet heels and stared at Weiss, having noticed her pitiful presence. "Yes, can I help you?"

Timidly approaching, Weiss cleared her throat. "Um... I'm new here and I was told to drop by the office once I arrived."

"Oh. You're the transfer student." The statement seemed to have reminded the woman of her other duties, other than reprimanding non-law abiding students. Traveling around the blonde, she went towards the front desk and shuffled around stacks of paper with her hands. "Hold on for a moment. I've got your files right here. Miss Weiss...Schnee?"

She read her name off of a yellow sticky note. Glumly, Weiss nodded in response.

"Welcome to the school, Miss Schnee. Now, your student ID card will be given to you the following week. All your course books can be bought at the store. And... I see you've already acquired our school uniform." The woman checked her appearance and approved of what she saw. "Very well. Here is your course schedule for the term. It should be self-explanatory. Each student is expected to be at homeroom by eight. And it is...five minutes past eight now."

"Just ask one of the teachers or other students if you feel lost." Her eyes narrowed away from her watch. "Actually... Miss Long. Why don't you show our new student to her first class?"

"No problem!" The blonde grinned widely and then gestured for Weiss to exit with her. "Come on, follow me."

Weiss wasn't eager to have company, but she was ushered out in a hurry; for some reason the blonde seemed to be subtly shoving her out the front door. Only once they were out of ear shot from the office did the pushy girl visibly relax.

"Whew, thanks for saving my ass back there," said the blonde, letting out a huge sigh of relief. "I think I can manage to dodge her 'till gym class. Nobody else gives a crap about the uniform policy except for her."

Then the blonde stopped, realizing that what she had been saying probably didn't make much sense to the new kid.

"By the way, I'm Yang." She flashed her a set of pearly whites. The gesture would have been quite charming if the girl hadn't been wearing such a goofy smile. "Sorry. I'm a bit all over the place this morning."

Weiss suspected that it wasn't restrictive to this morning. "Hello, Yang. I'm-"

"You don't need to tell me your name! I remember." The blonde pulled a long hard look of concentration and then said, "Weiss Schnee, right?"

"...That's right," she confirmed with less of her struggle each time.

"So... You're new." Yang's bright violet orbs sparkled in genuine interest. "Did you just move here into the city?"

"Yes."

"Cool. Where'd you used to live?"

"New Haven."

"Hey, I've been there before!" The blonde hummed in approval. "It's a really nice place to visit in fall."

Weiss remembered the trees, and the way the leaves changed at the peak of autumn. "I suppose so," she shrugged, having no other choice but to agree. A short silence filled the gap and Weiss pondered if the blonde had grown tired of continuing the conversation. Yet Yang had merely been distracted by a short run of vibrations coming from her phone. She tugged it out and snickered at a text message that Weiss could not read.

Wearing yet another bright and dopey expression, she glanced up. "Do you live close to the school then?"

"It's not too far from here," growled Weiss, determined to steer the conversation away from anything remotely Schnee related. "Shouldn't we be heading to our homerooms?"

"Here, let me see your schedule." And without consent, the blonde forcibly stole the piece of paper out of her left hand.

"Right..." Yang crinkled the edges as she held it at a weird angle. "You are in... Oh! You're in room 214! Looks like you're stuck with me then."

Yang laughed a bit, and then returned her schedule. "Ours is on the second floor," she stated, taking Weiss to a staircase placed amid a line of red lockers.

"Just to let you know, that was our vice principal back there," the blonde pursued as they walked along.

"She can be a bit scary and domineering for... Well, for most of the time really. But I think she has a soft spot for smart students so..." Yang's eyes trailed her in half-amusement and half-curiosity. "So... You'll probably be fine."

Weiss wasn't sure which part of her features declared her to be a smart or well-behaved student, but in comparison to the blonde's flaming heart t-shirt, she honestly did feel a bit tame.

"The teachers here are a little bit weird, like our homeroom teacher," Yang carried on. "He has a PhD in world history so he really likes to be called Doctor Oobleck instead of Mr. Oobleck. In case you want to suck up to him. Oh, and the guy talks really fast too, so you're gonna have a hard time keeping up with your notes."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"No, I'm serious." Yang misunderstood her terse reply as a sign of disbelief. "My friend goes through like ten pages of paper per class. I don't know what he puts in his morning coffee but I doubt it's only caffeine if you get my drift."

Weiss merely nodded, tolerating the joke but not finding it in herself to openly laugh at it.

"...You're not much of a talker now, are you?" Picking up on her nonverbal vibe, the blonde eventually asked.

"Not really." She was never the right person to lightly chat with. To be completely honest, Weiss didn't relate well to people in general.

"Well, you're in luck." Yang smiled almost sympathetically as she stopped at a corner, pointing up at a beige door with the numbers two, one, and four marked in black. "Because we're here. And just in time too. I think Oobleck's nearly finished with the morning announcements."

Yang opened the door and marched in, almost too boldly for someone who was obviously tardy for class.

A man with crooked round glasses acknowledged them almost immediately. There was not much to him but a disarrayed pair of trousers and a wrinkled shirt. Even his shoes were incompatible in color. But the nameplate resting on his desk did identify the man as Mr. Oobleck, alerting Weiss that this would be her homeroom teacher for the remaining school year.

Work stationery were scattered messily across his desk, its state of chaos reflecting the strands of green hair that poked out at odd places. Nonetheless, the teacher appeared to be a kind and good-humored person as his initial reaction to Yang had been nothing less than jocular. He jumped off from his desk, knocking down a pencil or two as he did so.

"Ah, Miss Long! How nice of you to finally join us. And what excuse do you have prepared for us this time?" He asked this as if the blonde's fibs were his daily dosages of delight.

"Actually, Doctor Oobleck." Yang smiled proudly enough so that tardiness could have easily been interpreted as her greatest feat of achievement. "I was busy helping out our new student over here."

At the receiving end of the blonde's backwards thumb was a very uncomfortable and very tense Weiss.

"Oh! Why, hello!" Light reflected off of the man's glasses, making it seem like his eyes literally glittered in excitement. He gawked at her, or at least she presumed he was. It was nearly impossible to tell where the teacher was staring at due to the opaqueness of his lenses. "You must be Miss Schnee."

They shook hands in a cordial way, which felt like an odd sort of greeting to have with a teacher. Then the man sent her to an empty desk at the way back. Weiss appreciated that he did not introduce her to the entire class. After all, several of the murmurs and noise of chitchat had died out once she entered the room. The emergence of Yang, however, mildly nullified the silence. The blonde trudged along to her usual seat, which was a few rows into the front, and engaged in conversation with another classmate.

Weiss, instead, kept her head down. It was not long before the bell rang.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a disturbingly blank blur.

With the end of homeroom period, a majority of the students filed out of the class in a disorderly fashion. The remaining students took out their history books as their teacher rushed out to print out some forgotten handouts. Yang, who was one of the few to have stayed behind, revolved around in her chair and beckoned Weiss to come sit next to her. Apparently there were no seating arrangements.

Doctor Oobleck returned soon enough and handed out the sources needed for today's class; Weiss's packet was thicker as it contained the course syllabus. Yang wasn't exaggerating when she said that the man talked fast. Many others, like Yang, gave up on listening after the first thirty minutes. Some were clicking on their phones, choosing to record the lecture for later usage. Secretly, Weiss reviewed it to be a viable alternative.

After being awoken by the second period bell, Yang offered to be her guide per nobody's request. Not wanting to be a burden, Weiss had full intentions of refusing the proposal, but the blonde obstinately pushed her out the door after stealing another peek at her schedule. Yang didn't seem to be a very timely guide, but her sense of direction was much more reliable than her own. Miraculously, Weiss arrived on time while Yang left in a rush, evidently being late to her own obligations.

At her statistics class, Weiss became acquainted with another generous girl, this time a redhead whose ponytail ran all the way to the middle of her back. She had a very amiable impression, willingly sharing her textbook and offering to walk together to their next class. But Weiss knew where to draw the line when the girl went as far as inviting her to eat lunch at the cafeteria.

Feeling too tense to be hungry, Weiss declined and spent the lunch period wandering around the school grounds by herself. Weiss knew that her body would eventually shut down without food. She wondered if her stomach knew this and somehow unconsciously desired it as well.

The halls were vacant compared to the chaotic state they were in. She supposed that most people would have vacated the school building to eat, socialize, and enjoy the outside air. Weiss mused over her own thoughts in solitude, not being disturbed except by a few curious teachers, who cared enough to notice that she did not belong.

Following the long tiresome break was a time allocated for independent studies. Seeing as that she was still new to the school, Weiss was encouraged to explore, hopefully deciding upon an extracurricular or an elective class she would like to join by the end of the week. In room 214, Doctor Oobleck gifted her with a temporary student pass to the library and a list including all the names of the clubs she could choose to audit for the rest of the afternoon. There were the usual lineups: sports, music, the newspaper, and etc. Although none of the choices intrigued Weiss, she smiled politely at her teacher in order to at least feign interest. Then after being let out, Weiss did not hesitate before choosing to walk towards the library.

As suspected, the library wasn't a very popular choice for students. It was large and copious, with a couple dozen bookshelves being aligned like a maze. The decorator must have sacrificed style for maximum room capacity.

Weiss peeked around, pulling out several books that interested her from the racks. Holding four hardcovers in her arms, she carried them to an unoccupied desk at the farthest corner of the library. Once she took a seat, and pulled in her chair to begin her read, her eyes caught onto something rustling in front of her. Frowning, Weiss looked up and found that several of the books on the shelf were being moved on their own. Someone must have been fiddling with them from the other wide; Weiss could now hear a series of eager squeals. Disinterested, she was prepared to turn back to her novel when the last book on the shelf made a dull thudding sound as it fell onto the floor. Between the gaps that it left behind, Weiss saw a familiar pale face.

It felt like something hard and cold rammed into her stomach. She blinked only once, but during the short interim the figure had instantly vanished, leaving Weiss with nothing but traces of retreating red hair. A slight tingling at the end of her fingers reminded Weiss that she needed to move. Instinct rather than reason came to her help, spurring on her body to sprint around the bookshelf, expecting to catch the mysterious stalker red-handed when-

"Oof!"

Weiss staggered back, not being able to stifle a yelp as she fell on her rear.

"Sorry," a soft voice apologized. "I didn't see you there."

"No. It's my fault." Weiss groaned, rubbing the right side of her hips. "I'm sorry for running into you."

A hand descended to her, offering to help her stand. Weiss took it without much thought. Glancing up, she found a pair of dazzling amber eyes when a boisterous person addressed her from behind.

"Hey, Weiss!" It was Yang, fully clothed in athletic wear this time. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Lower your voice, we're in the library," Weiss heard the girl hiss before directing a puzzled expression to the blonde. "Do you two know each other?"

"Duh." Yang scoffed. "This is Weiss. She's the new transfer student. And Weiss, this is Blake Belladonna. A close friend of mine, unfortunately."

That last word had been added as a teasing joke, yet it gained a response from Blake nonetheless; her golden eyes narrowed to a greater extent, drawing a picture of an irritated cat. It took a second but Weiss eventually recognized the girl from this morning. She had been the one to be sitting next to the blonde during homeroom. Upon closer inspection, Weiss found that Yang's seatmate was fairly pretty and looked much more likely to obey school rules than the blonde ever did.

Yang grinned again as she squeezed Blake's shoulder playfully, pulling the girl closer into her chest. For a moment, the blonde's face evoked another's; remembering who it was Yang resembled, Weiss felt a sudden chill trickle down her spine like a cascade of icy water. Noticing this bizarre reaction, Blake frowned in slight concern. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Quickly, Weiss shook the image of Ruby Rose out of her mind. "It's nothing. I- I have a headache, that's all."

"Oh. That sucks." Yang furrowed her brows with worry. "Do you want us to take you to the nurse or something?"

"No, no." Weiss took a step away from them. "I'm fine, really."

"Are you sure?" asked Blake again and Weiss had the irrational urge to tell the girl to mind her own business.

"Yes," she instead said through gritted teeth. "I'm sure."

Blake and Yang exchanged a nervous glance. Clearly the former hadn't been introduced to Weiss's stubbornness yet. The blonde, who had slightly more experience with it, took charge in changing the subject.

"Well, okay then...?" Yang scratched her nose as if the tension was itching at it. "Anyway... I was just in here looking for my sister. Have you seen her around, Blake?"

"Yeah, but I think she went to check out the fantasy section again," Blake remarked.

"Great... That'll take about an hour." The blonde sighed in complaint. "We were planning on going to the gym afterwards. Did you want to come with?"

The offer came to her so smoothly and quickly. Weiss had to blink several times before being able to register that the question had been directed at her and not Blake.

"No..." She declined politely. "That's all right."

"Aw, come on. It's your first day here! Let us show you around."

"Thank you for the offer, but I should get going," said Weiss, feeling eager to disappear.

"But-"

"Yang," Blake started. "Let it go."

Actually, Weiss was beginning to like the sound of Blake.

"It was nice meeting you, Weiss." The girl bestowed a warm smile onto her. It accented her demeanor much better than the frown ever did. Pulling the pouting blonde by her side, Blake tucked her book into the shelf. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"All right." Weiss grinned at the girl vaguely, watching as the mismatching duo bickered as they left. She waited until they were completely out of her sight and then aimed straight for the door. Holding her breath helped with her nerves, and only when she reached the bathroom floor did she release her lungs from their cruel punishment.

Alerting the authorities was a silly idea. Her senses must be at their climax. Yes, that was it. Nobody was chasing after her. She had simply imagined it. Slapping her cheeks lightly by the mirror, it took several more minutes to recollect her composure.

Weiss considered going back to the Schnee mansion. Then remembering that she had no obligations to do so, as a curfew had never been set, Weiss decided to delay the task for as long as possible. For now, she would simply leave this place. Stopping by her designated locker, Weiss pulled out her bag and then rushed downstairs again.

As she exited the school grounds, Weiss feared that a teacher would catch her as she went without permission. But not even the disciplinary vice principal seemed to sense her presence as she passed by the main office. There was no car waiting for her. If she was ditching school then, god forbid, she shouldn't be doing it with style anyway. Weiss brooded on what her mother would think of all this. It was a sore subject that she swallowed painfully, angry at herself for creating such a reminder.

Outside, the atmosphere had become cold and murky. There were flakes of water and moisture flowing with the wind. The rain was a mere trifle, so weak that it barely tickled her skin. Weiss took out her umbrella nonetheless, keeping it unfolded and in her hands in case of a sudden shift in weather.

Weiss was most sincere in preferring a stroll on her own. After having a simple bite at the local convenience store, she wasted several hours of her life at the park near the school. Her mobile had already received two messages from her father's servants, asking for her whereabouts as she had not been at the school when the bell rang at four. Weiss called back, informing the head butler that she wouldn't be returning until nighttime, lying that she was eating out with a couple of nonexistent friends.

Unsurprisingly, the sun set quickly in the winter. By seven, the sky had already grown dark, encouraging Weiss to slowly walk towards the estate. The light drizzle soon morphed into thick droplets of water, confirming the city's reputation for frequent rainfalls.

Getting wetter by the minute, Weiss hurried across the avenue, panning left to right to make sure she wouldn't get lost. It had been a lost cause though, as she was still clueless to the new environment and had already forgotten the path the driver took in order to drop her off at the school. Confused, Weiss mulled over the idea of calling the head butler for directions, but thankfully found a street sign that she remembered seeing in the morning.

Thump!

Weiss jumped at the noise. Pivoting around, she saw that a neighbor's trash bin had fallen on its side. The lid had opened to spill out some of its insides. Wrinkling her nose, Weiss turned her back to it, assuming that it had been a result of a strong gust of wind. But as soon as did, she patently heard a hiss of pain.

She whirred around again and uttered a single gasp. The trashcan had been correctly set into place.

Blood pounding, Weiss passed the garbage one probing stare before jogging away from it.

Stop it. Weiss. Stop imagining things.

But no regular amount of self-hypnosis could help her ignore the prickles occurring along her shoulders, as if somebody was watching her from afar. Senses heightened, Weiss thought that she could discern a series of strange huffs, like heavy restrained breaths.

Stiffly, she twirled her neck ever-so-slightly and saw all that she needed to see: the color red. Rapidly, Weiss turned the corner, purposefully hastening her pace as she stepped through an empty backstreet.

She knew it. She knew that she wasn't being too paranoid. Her intuitions were almost always correct. Weiss _had_ seen that girl at the school library. And the same cloaked girl had followed her all the way here, waiting to pounce ever since she left the school grounds. And now, with nobody around, it was the ideal opportunity to strike. That absolute lunatic!

The umbrella thumped her back as she sprinted. Exhausted, her vision blurred for a moment, causing her to trip over her own legs onto to a protruding curb. Her knees burned slightly as they scraped against the rough cement. A drop of blood trickled down her leg. Cold rain pelted her onto every speck of fabric and skin.

"Stop following me!" She shouted, flipping around furiously as her last ditch effort.

One. Inhale.

Two. Exhale.

By the third second, Weiss had stopped breathing entirely. And only by the third second was Weiss able to process the truth. The figure that had been chasing her had neither been female…nor human.

The red eyes that glowered at her were unlike any dog or wolf, any canine she had ever seen. In fact, the creature didn't look real. The appearance was so foreign from any species she had ever even heard of. It showed off a short sturdy skull that resembled a dinosaur or some sort of prehistoric lizard. There was no line of fur; its entire body was like a blob of black ink, and from its rear to its forehead was a thick white shell, inconsistent in its bone-like spikes and red accents. The creature stood only on hind limbs, as there was nothing to support it at the front. Weiss wondered if the forelimbs had been severed off but the creature moved too easily without them. Claws flashed dangerously out of their joints.

…Maybe it's friendly? Weiss's laughable thought dispersed quickly as the creature growled. It wasn't a sound that could have been made by a mere animal. It was malicious. It was evil in its purest form.

A call for help would have been nice, but her voice lost its way inside her raspy throat. An invisible hand clasped over her mouth, refusing to allow a scream to escape. Weiss didn't have to look behind her to see that she had hit another dead end. She took one step backwards and fell onto the ground once again, quivering, not in control of her mind or body.

The creature stamped forward. With an unexpected screech, it charged. Weiss had no chance to lift her arms, petrified by the monstrous red eyes that glared at her without pupils. She smelled of rain, dirt, and fear.

"…Weiss!"

Her heart stopped.

"Weiss!"

A flurry of rose petals distracted her from death. The sky must have cracked open, bestowing onto her a reddish tornado, a whirlwind motion of crimson and neighboring leaves.

There was a bone-crunching blow as the monster made contact with it. And whatever the obstacle had been, it went several feet into the air, being sent a couple hundred meters before crashing loudly onto the alley wall. There was a dull thud, and then the rumble of falling boxes and several aluminum cans rattling against each other.

The cry of horror finally rolled off of Weiss's tongue.

Taken aback, the creature gave a violent lurch, tumbling on the ground as it angrily found its footing. Weiss jolted upwards, dodging its snarl, practically diving towards the spot where her rescuer had crashed. The figure was undoubtedly human; she saw the contours of arms and legs digging out of the disarrayed trashcans and recycling bins.

"Oh my god! Are you okay? Are you-?" Weiss choked on her own words.

Her savior, who had half-risen and smoothed her hair, looked with a mixture of trouble and caution.

"You!" Weiss yelled, pointing a daringly accusing finger up at the pair of unblinking silver eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Good to see you too," Ruby drawled. The girl, ever since their foremost encounter, seemed to have turned immune to her screams. Or perhaps it was the current situation that called for the girl to be more intimidating and brave. Whatever it was, it encouraged more input of sarcasm than formerly needed.

"Thanks for saving my life, Ruby. Oh, it was no problem, Weiss," she heard the girl distinctly mutter under her breath.

"Now is not the time to joke!" Weiss reasoned, though her anger was quickly drowned by another bestial growl. Alarmed, she shuffled backwards, without meaning to, hiding behind Ruby who involuntarily became a human shield. "What- What is that thing?"

Ruby simply ignored her, choosing to stare the creature dead on, with eyes that portrayed no dreading trepidation. Her gaze conveyed serious thought, like a careful strategist who had been in this situation countless times before. Baffled, Weiss grabbed the girl by the shoulders and shook her violently. "Do something!"

"I can't," Ruby grunted. "I don't- I don't have Crescent Rose with me."

"Crescent what-?" Weiss had been asking when she saw the beast charge at them through the corner of her vision. "Duck!"

They managed to dive away, just in time as the beast lunged above their heads. If they had stayed, the creature's monstrous teeth would have torn through their bare necks. Thankfully, the creature crashed into the brick wall, the impact making it temporarily lose its bearings.

Mind in such a tailspin, Weiss could not function properly, barely being able to get back on her legs. There was a strong but gentle pressure on her left arm. She glanced up to see that Ruby was already standing, attempting to hold her up and watch the monster at the same time.

"Let's get out of here!" Weiss suggested out of panic.

However, Ruby refused to budge.

"We can't leave it here!" The girl argued as she searched around tactfully. "Do you have anything with you? Anything sharp or pointy like a knife?"

"No! Who do you think I am?" Weiss roared. "I don't walk around armed!"

"What about any Dust?"

"Oh, that's a great idea," she said dryly. "We'll make the thing sneeze to its death by tickling its nose."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" It was Ruby's turn to get angry. Her silver eyes flickered for a moment, being hurt by her own words. Then her doubtful gaze teetered off, shifting towards something below their feet. "What's that?"

"What?" Weiss followed the girl's stare and gaped down at the object that had been collecting rain. "You don't mean-"

"That'll have to do," stated Ruby and without further ado took the gritty umbrella from the ground.

"Are you insane?" Weiss shrieked, but the girl had already started to fold the umbrella in, holding the invention like one would hold a double-edged sword. "What are you doing?"

"Just stay back," Ruby ordered her in a snappish manner.

"But, wait-" Blue eyes growing wide, Weiss could do nothing else but stare hopelessly at the girl, feeling more and more useless as Ruby took off without further instructions. Weiss already missed the warmth the girl's firm grip had provided on her arm. "Wait!"

She had no clue what the girl was planning on doing, and frankly she was too afraid to ask. An umbrella was nothing even remotely close to a weapon, certainly not something that could be used to combat a brutish monster with. But simply by holding the umbrella did Ruby gain an abundant amount of indefensible confidence. It went far beyond Weiss's level of understanding and comprehension.

The creature, wrestling with its hunger and snapping its powerful jaws, delayed no more time to dine. Ruby, equally determined, ran forward. For a second, the girl vanished. Then she materialized elsewhere, umbrella raised, right in front of the creature's awaiting jaws. Terrified to witness a massacre, Weiss closed her eyes as she heard the demoralizing sound of a body being torn apart.

Why? Why did the girl have to insist on acting as the hero? She cried, her body shuddering as her eye lids finally puckered up the courage to open. What Weiss saw provided her with another mild heart attack.

Standing, quite comfortably and safely, on the ground was Ruby.

At the end of her outstretched arm was the monster, floating in mid-air. It was twitching, but otherwise remained absolutely still. Weiss had to squint harder through the rain to assess the outcome more clearly. The beast hadn't been airborne, she observed in mixed amazement. It had been skewered like a barbecue stick, through the mouth, into its throat, directly into its internal guts. Emitting a strangled snivel, it twitched once more before the armored skin began creating a strange fizzing noise. Weiss couldn't believe what she was seeing. Initially, the air around the beast seemed to be wrapped in a black smog. Then, she realized, that the corner edges of the monster's shell had started to disappear.

Weiss soon understood that the carcass was literally _disintegrating_ , vaporizing into a cloud of thick coal-like smoke until nothing more remained behind but a ripped, tarnished, umbrella.

Ruby lowered her weapon. Weiss took it to mean that it was safe for her to move. Carefully, she took three hesitant steps towards the spot where the beast had evidently evaporated. She checked once more to be certain, to make sure that there really was nothing.

"...What was that thing?" Her mouth involuntarily whispered.

Ruby stared at her with an unbearably depressing countenance, an expression that said that her worst fears had been confirmed by the ignorant question.

"That was a Creep," she answered, much like this was common sense to everyone.

"A- A Creep?" Weiss didn't dare comment against it.

Ruby plodded back to her. The heiress tried hard not to wince as the umbrella flicked at her direction. She expected to be stabbed, overthinking that her tone of voice had provoked the girl into attacking. She instead watched as Ruby slowly opened up the contraption. Incredibly enough, the umbrella still functioned, though much of its surface had been ripped and sported quite a few noticeable holes. Nevertheless, Ruby offered it to her like a treaty for peace.

"Here," she said shortly, but Weiss did not take it. She was too busy scrutinizing the girl's attire. Nothing had been torn, and none of her limbs had been cut or bruised. That was impossible, Weiss deemed. The girl had flown at least six feet into the air and had crashed on impact. She should have fractured a bone or two, suffered a level three concussion at the very least… But the girl in front of her was perfectly fine. There wasn't even an ounce of pain in the way she stood or moved. The only readable feature on her face was concern. Concern not for her own body, but for _her_ , for Weiss.

"It's raining," Ruby added in a murmur. "You might catch a cold."

"Speak for yourself," Weiss countered quietly, but chose to take the umbrella into her unsteady hands. She gripped on the handle with all ten fingers, worried that under her current level of stress, she may unknowingly drop it. Staying on alert, Weiss took a conscious step forward, hoping that the small umbrella could shelter both of them. She was still afraid of the strange girl with the red cape, but not nearly as much as she had been beforehand.

Ruby didn't notice her considerate advance. Instead, her silver eyes pierced the front of Weiss's shirt.

"What are you wearing?" The girl asked with an injured sniff.

Weiss glanced down, half-expecting to see something indecent. The manner in which the girl asked certainly made it sound like her current fashion was wildly inappropriate.

"This is my uniform," she responded after a short period of self-inspection.

"Your _school_ uniform?" The girl emphasized the middle of her phrase, as if that made a huge difference to the question.

"Yes, this is my _school_ uniform," she confirmed with waning patience.

"...It looks different." That was all the explanation given to her. In spite of the situation, Weiss felt her temper flare. Instead of words of pure gratitude, Weiss found herself expressing the exact opposite of her sentiments.

"What are you still doing here?" She asked sharply. "Didn't I warn you that I would call the cops?"

"...I'm sorry," Ruby barely replied. "I didn't know where else to go."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, softening her attitude after noting the other's ashen pallor. "Where do you live?"

"I... I don't know." The girl, who had single-handedly taken out a shadowy monster, visibly recoiled at the mere question. "I don't know where this place is. It's not Vale. It's definitely not Patch... I tried asking around to figure out where I was."

She trembled faintly and then continued with a hollow voice.

"At first… I thought you were the only one acting weird. But you're not." Ruby stared off into the distance, droplets of rain accentuating her look of detachment. "Nobody seems to understand what I'm talking about when I ask them. Nobody- Nobody remembers. I don't know what's wrong with everybody. I'm not even sure if _they_ are the problem anymore."

"You're the only face I recognize around here." Weiss didn't like the hesitancy in the girl's tone. And yet Ruby trusted her and she had given Weiss no other reason to think that she was lying. "You're the only one who can help me. Weiss, please."

Mentally, Weiss agreed with her. But the concurrence ended there.

Their interaction should finish here. Weiss planned on running away from the scene, wiping her memory clean of every surreal event that had happened to her throughout the day. That would be the mentally healthy thing to do.

But this girl... She could have easily ignored her as well, choosing to stay out of the fight instead of charging recklessly into battle. Yet this stranger had chosen to save her life. The umbrella, tattered on every side, proved this to be true. It was undoubtedly the most selfless and courageous act Weiss had ever seen in her life.

That beast. It was hard to forget it now, its protruding teeth and unsettling red eyes having been permanently etched onto her mind. It was possible that her adrenaline, her fear, had created something that wasn't really there. Weiss was on the verge of thinking that she had gone crazy, her overwhelmed mind having triggered her brain to dramatize something that was ultimately normal and ordinary, like a wild boar or a rabid dog.

Sirens echoed in the distance. There wasn't much time left to decide. After one more fleeting look at the girl, Weiss made up her mind.

It was simple. All questions would be answered in due time. For now, she owed this girl her life. And Weiss never liked being indebted to anyone.


	37. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 4)

The entrance opened without her having to knock.

She felt the warmth embrace her in an instant, although the insulated heat was the only thing that greeted her inside. One of the servants rudely gaped at Weiss, judging her appearance as she walked herself into the estate. She did feel bad for the cleaning lady though, noticing the trail of rain and dirt her shoes were leaving on the otherwise pristine hardwood floor.

"Miss Schnee!" A familiar voice startled her. Weiss flinched as the elderly but shrewd butler strode into the foyer, his beady black eyes glowering down at her.

"Where have you been?" He asked this in a sincerely angry manner. Not knowing that anyone would have minded, or cared, Weiss felt even more guilty for not having called a second time.

"I was just..." The truth was impossible to say. "I was just enjoying a nice walk."

She prepared for the worst, breathing in the short silence as the air filled with the collective sound of rainfall. Being reminded of the weather, the man looked outside the window and then spotted her clothes with a mixture of anxiety and disdain. "You're drenched from head to toe."

"It's um... It was raining for a little while and I didn't have an umbrella." Weiss concealed the battered contraption behind her shadow, worried by the sort of questions its sight would provoke. "I'm sorry for making you worry."

"Next time, it would be kind of you to inform us of your whereabouts," he resumed with his lecture, albeit with a softer tone. "Your father wouldn't want you to stay out too late. It's dangerous for a young lady to roam around at night."

"Why? Is he here?" She shot back, and within the inquiry she could already detect the cynicism.

"Well... No." The answer seemed to be compressing the butler into a sorely uncomfortable position. "Your father had to attend an important engagement tonight. But he would be concerned for your well-being, miss, if he were here."

"I'm sure," Weiss said flatly, in fake understanding. "Thank you for telling me. But, if you'll excuse me, I would really like to go up to my room and change. These clothes aren't very comfortable to be in."

Abiding to her wishes, as if summoned, one of the female servants stepped forward, ready to escort her up the stairs. Weiss paled in comparison.

"I don't think I'll be needing any help getting dressed," she hinted, keeping a civil tone to be polite.

"Very well." The butler grunted reluctantly. "We won't disturb you."

"Right..." Weiss huffed. "Um, good." Then as awkwardly as humanely possible, she twirled around, keeping her back hidden from view as she took a few steps towards the staircase. Most of the servants retreated to their other duties. The old man, however, kept an oddly suspicious stare on her figure. When he was distracted enough by a phone call, Weiss pivoted violently on her feet, nearly tripping again before racing forward in a tense hurry.

Reaching the top floor, panting, Weiss cursed all the days she spent without any exercise. Her legs had been through enough already. Vowing to become more fit in the future, Weiss swallowed down the fatigue and entered her living chambers, alone like she had requested.

The room was quiet, but the eerie silence had fooled her once before. Weiss knew better than to trust it anymore. Tossing the umbrella onto the ground, she kicked it under her bed, hiding the ruined parasol away from view. She inspected the bed - which had been made, the closet - which had been closed, and the window - which had been sealed.

There was a corner of red fabric flickering in between the closed white curtains. Making a wild guess, Weiss hastily moved towards it and then pushed the drapery aside.

Ruby was waiting for her, standing on raised heels, all four of her limbs somehow clutching onto the building creases for dear life. After showing what she was capable of doing with the creature, Weiss was not at all stirred.

"Sorry," she said, quickly unlocking the window as the girl shivered while waiting. "I forgot that I locked it before I left."

"It's fine." Ruby laughed weakly, flicking water off from her hair and cape before climbing inside. The action bore striking resemblance to a dog, drying himself of moisture and muck after having taken a light swim at a lake. "Thanks for letting me in."

"...You have five minutes," Weiss asserted, re-shutting the window as she made her reasonable demands. "Five minutes to convince me that you're not insane and then you're gone."

Ruby nodded slowly. Hopping off from the ledge, she walked carefully into the center of the room. Looking around with a vacant expression, the girl took her time exploring. Weiss, meanwhile, sat at the corner of her own bed, watching the girl like a cautious hawk. Once Ruby did bestow a glance in her direction, Weiss hardened her glare. This had a promising effect, since her visitor did not dare sit directly next to her. Instead, she plopped herself down on the floor, several feet away from touching distance.

"Well?" Weiss goaded her on.

"...I'm not sure where to start," Ruby finally confessed.

"Why don't you start off with how you got here?" She suggested, still recovering from the shocking memory of their initial meeting.

"Like I told you before, I was heading towards Mistral with Ren, Nora, and Jaune-"

"Hold up. Who are these people you keep mentioning?" interrupted Weiss, keen to understand every detail. If she was going to listen to this girl's story, she was going to do it properly.

"...They're our friends," Ruby said glumly. "We all met at Beacon Academy, remember?"

"Where exactly is this Beacon Academy?"

"It's in the east side of Vale," the girl explained thoroughly. "You cross the river with an airship and it's right there."

"But..." A heavy sigh escaped her throat. "Where is Vale?"

Ruby's expression turned blank, possibly out of exhaustion, and possibly out of personal defeat. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to answer that," she eventually mumbled.

"Okay then..." Weiss eyed the girl doubtfully as she tried for another direction. "Then... Beacon Academy. This is supposed to be some sort of school?"

"Yeah. It was a school," Ruby replied slowly. "Dedicated to training the next generation of huntsmen and huntresses."

"Hunters?" It was a rather unorthodox picture the girl was drawing. Weiss immediately imagined a big cabin in the woods, with teens adorning themselves in strange medieval costumes. The present adults were brandishing their pocket knives, teaching young children how to use a crossbow and skin squirrels.

Ruby, however, was quick to diffuse such ridiculous thoughts. "They're the ones who protect the people from the Grimm."

Weiss knew it wasn't wise to bring up the fairy tale writers again.

"The creature that attacked us tonight," she began carefully. "Was that supposed to be a Grimm?"

"Yeah, that was a Creep, which is a type of Grimm. There's a lot more of them too." Wringing her hands together, Ruby tangled her fingers into a tight knot. "A lot more."

"...I see."

A troubling hush fell upon them. This might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it felt like an hour. Gripping onto the hem of her skirt, Weiss couldn't help but perceive that with every word, with every speech given, Ruby was staring at her with a flash of stronger hope.

"And in this world of monsters and hunters... Where do I fit in?"

Apparently, there were certain things in the world that no one should ever dare to even question. Because some claims, whether or not they were justifiable by tangible evidence, had already been established as the solely existing truths of the universe. To Ruby, the idea that Weiss Schnee belonged with her and her imaginary world, seemed to be an exemplary case of such irrefutable facts.

"You're Weiss Schnee." The sentence, the syllables alone were incredibly intense, severe, like she was describing something so vital to the beating of her own heart. It was hard to believe that someone around her own age, even with a little minor discrepancy, could talk about a matter with such passion and conviction. But that is exactly how Ruby sounded as she went on. "You're my partner, my BFF. We met at Initiation. We took on a giant Nevermore together... You saved me from getting squished by a Death Stalker."

There was a whimper. A shuddering suction of breath. Then, a gut-wrenching plea. "Come on, Weiss. There's got to be _something_ you remember. It can't all be _gone_."

It was a brew of emotions, too raw, too frequent; the bonds that Ruby forced upon her were burdensome, burning her like an opened flame.

"No!" She snapped, clutching her head, trying to keep it from exploding. "I don't _know_ who you are. I don't know anybody named Nora or Jaune. I've never even heard of Vale or Beacon. You must have the wrong person."

"Then how can you have the same name, look the same way, and speak in the same manner? Weiss, I swear I'm not lying," came a feeble objection. "Something must have happened here that made everybody forget about Remnant. I don't know how but- Somebody must be behind it."

"Oh, really? Is that what you think?" Weiss returned. "You think the whole world has gone mad and you're supposed to be the sane one? What are the odds of that happening, eight billion to one?"

She really hadn't meant it to be a patronizing taunt, but the built-up frustration had to materialize in one shape or another.

"Then how do you explain the Grimm that we fought?" Ruby examined her obstinate expression, and wisely switched to another line of attack. Growling angrily, she dug into the most troublesome plot hole in Weiss's theory. "You were there. You saw it for yourself."

"I don't know what I saw," Weiss hissed in response, starting to feel endangered by the continuous accusations. "But the world we live in? It's called planet earth, not Remnant. And I can assure you, the vast majority of earth's population will tell you that what we saw this evening? That- That shadowy creature with red eyes? That's not normal."

Exasperated, Weiss was even inclined to dig through her belongings, find an atlas of some kind, and shove it up Ruby's nose.

"I'm not sure where you came from," she concluded, stating the only possible explanation she could create within the boundaries of her brain. "But this isn't the world you're thinking of."

Ruby became petrified at the thought.

"So... You're telling me that I've somehow magically ended up in some alternate universe?" Her body remained remote, but Weiss could see the girl's pupils starting to shake in distress. "Yeah, look who's crazy now."

"I'm trying to help you. The least you could do is refrain from insulting me."

"I'm sorry." The girl lifted up her sorrow-filled eyes. "I just- Isn't there anyone else we can talk to about this? Your dad maybe?"

An electric shock ran up her spine, resulting in a repulsive jerk. Eyes widened, Weiss opened her mouth in disbelief, truly surprised that the subject of her father had been spoken of so bluntly by a stranger. Ruby spoke of the man in a careful calming manner, as if she were speaking of a man she had heard stories about, perhaps not too often, but enough so that she knew the topic was never meant to be taken as lightly as a joke. If this point of knowledge did not scare Weiss, it did anger her for the intrusion of privacy.

"...That man," Weiss tried to respond calmly, "would have you thrown out of here so fast, you wouldn't even hear the doors close behind you."

"Yeah..." Ruby didn't find this threat hurtful in any way. "I guess he isn't a real big fan of me, since he took you back to Atlas."

"For the last time!" She stared without apology. "This isn't Atlas!"

An unspeakable line had been crossed. Ruby understood this since she abandoned her retorts, shooting her gaze towards the floor once again in confusion and dismay. Weiss resorted to noiselessly breathing for another minute. The silence between them was prolonged. The promised five minutes had long since passed.

"I'm sorry," Ruby went on gently, like they had been talking all along, "I didn't want to upset you, especially by bringing up your dad... I was just running out of options."

She ventured to raise her eyes.

"...Don't you have any relatives of your own?" Weiss asked this, with at least a small level of precaution and tact. After all, the topic of family was a sore subject for herself, she wasn't eager to encourage any nightmarish memories to resurface.

"I don't know where they would be..." Ruby was discouraged again. "I've tried contacting Jaune, but my scroll hasn't been working since this morning."

Weiss eyed her dubiously. "Your scroll?"

"Yeah. You have one too," said the girl, almost automatically. Weiss parsed through the little information given to her. Inferring that this scroll was supposed to be used to contact a man named Jaune, Weiss assumed that Ruby was to referring to some sort of telephone system.

"I have a cell phone, if that's what you're saying," she guessed, taking out her mobile to uphold her claim.

Ruby had been in the middle of taking hers out as well. However, the gadget in her hand was a bit smaller and simpler in design. Upon first glace, it was too thin to be a flip phone, and yet it had no available touch screen. It was not until the girl pressed on the yellow, diamond-shaped button in its center when the device expanded, stretching the two grips far apart in order to deploy a wide holographic screen.

Weiss's jaws dropped open, wondering how on earth such an advanced invention could have ended up in the young teenager's hands. She hoped that it hadn't been stolen.

"Yours looks so weird," judged Ruby, who had no fascination over her own, much more engaging device. Instead, her gaze shrewdly followed the outline of the plain old smart phone, intrigued for no reason Weiss could imagine.

"Here." She granted it over to the perplexed girl. "You can borrow mine to call your friend."

"Uh..." Ruby caught the phone, managed to find the home button, but then did nothing else without further instructions. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"Dial the number," Weiss said simply, presuming that there was nothing left to explain or discuss. Clearly, she had overestimated Ruby's abilities.

"What number?"

"...Have you never used a phone before?" inquired a disbelieving Weiss, condescending to Ruby as a teacher might to a child.

"I've used a scroll before!" Ruby protested. "What is this, a prototype model?"

That hardly made sense. Her phone wasn't even one of the latest mobile brands to hit the market.

"Nevermind then," grumbled Weiss, scratching out her plan to have the girl shipped away to her family. Getting up from her bed, she snatched the phone out of a puzzled Ruby's hands.

"I want proof."

"...Huh?"

"Give me a single shred of proof that what you are telling me is true," she clarified her demand.

There. She had stumped the girl at last. Weiss basked in the light of her triumph. "There's no way to do it now, is there-?"

The rest of her words were caught in an abrupt surge of wind. It blew in her direction, disarraying her hair and swathing her body in a frigid breeze. Yet the window hadn't been opened. And Ruby, who had been sitting on the ground, just a couple of inches away from her, was suddenly standing at the opposite side of the room near her dresser.

"My semblance," said Ruby, grinning victoriously.

"Your what-?"

Weiss resisted the urge to be impressed.

"Okay..." She controlled her voice, so that she could pass as being nonchalant. "You're fast. So what?"

Prodded by her calm composure, Ruby's face bore a determined glow, with excitement sinking into her skin. This time, she expected to be thoroughly watched, and Weiss tried her utmost best to keep track of the girl's fluttering red cloak. Ruby began to jog, pacing nicely around the room at first, until her circles hastened in speed, turning into a leisurely dash, and then a full-on sprint. Soon, only blurry red shadows were running laps around her four-cornered room.

Although logic and common sense have suffered a number of causalities this fine evening, Weiss was rational enough to know that no ordinary human, not even an Olympic track star, would be able to travel at such a speed, even with the assistance of a sports car or a small jet plane.

Finally, Weiss caved.

"Okay. Fine," she grudgingly conceded, allowing the tone of uncontainable astonishment to seep through. "How on earth are you doing that?"

"In our world, we all have auras," said Ruby, slowing down so that she was visible to the human eye. "It's how we separate ourselves from the Grimm. Because the creatures of darkness have no souls. They aren't capable of wielding aura like us."

It was getting increasingly harder to comprehend, but Weiss agreed nonetheless, expecting the girl to continue.

"A semblance is like a physical projection of a person's aura. Everyone has a semblance that's unique to his or her strength."

The ease with which Ruby jumped out of a third story window, the red tornado that literally popped out of nowhere in order to save her life... It was tiny, but the two occurrences made better sense to her now. "And I'm guessing that yours is...super speed."

Ruby nodded. "Your semblance is making glyphs."

"Glyphs?"

"Yeah, you had all sorts of cool ones." The corner of Ruby's lips curled into a short, amused grin. She seemed to take great enjoyment and pride in telling Weiss how great she once used to be. "There were ones that helped you run up walls, ones that sped up time. Ones that helped us shoot ice flowers."

The term "ice flowers" struck confusion, much like any other foreign phrase Ruby had been effortlessly sprouting for the period in which they had been acquainted. But to the mysterious cape-bearing girl, the expression brought forth some sort of pleasant nostalgia.

"That sounds impressive," remarked Weiss, hoping to humor the other's mood. Yet the comment, which implied a heavy lack of interest and knowledge in the subject, created the exact opposite effect. Ruby's fleeting face of joy crumpled for a second.

"Well, you always did like to show off," she added in a tame voice, fighting to keep the happiness afloat.

"You do understand that we can't both be telling the truth," she said imploringly, abandoning caution.

Ruby's barely hovering smile tightened into a hard line.

"But I did promise to help you." Weiss sighed. "So, here's what's going to happen. Tomorrow, I will take you to a store to get your phone- your _scroll_ fixed. Then, you can call your friends or your relatives and have them pick you up. Deal?"

This was an offer Weiss had puckered up enough courage to make, after moralizing over it in her head. But everything in her proposal worked to beset Ruby somehow. The girl stared at her, a dim shadow being cast over her visage.

"Fine," she accepted, not so much in obedience, but in vanquishment.

Satisfied, Weiss immediately rose to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked in a subdued voice.

"I'm going to get out of these clothes," she grunted. "You stay here."

"...Okay."

Considering the girl's specialty in stalking, Weiss thought it was a safe precaution to take, warning the girl that there would be severe consequences if she were to find another figure wandering around in the bathroom when she got out of the shower. Thankfully, Ruby didn't move from the spot, even as Weiss closed the door on her to enter the sanctity of her washroom floor.

Calm down, Weiss told herself. It's only for tonight.

The product of today's discussion echoed inside her ears. When she was younger, Weiss also had a lively imagination that could rival Ruby's. The childhood version of herself would be dying to learn more about this mysterious character and her magical world.

Regardless of the past, Weiss was grown up now, and reality had long since uprooted such fantasies from her mind. Fairy tales didn't exist. Much of what she saw this evening could not be recounted, her visions could not be explained. A part of her had been convinced by Ruby, but a majority of her brain urged for more proof.

"A human can't move that fast," argued Weiss. "A human can't fight a creature that size with an umbrella and then live to tell the tale!"

Her mind scoffed. _What is she then, a vampire? A demi-god? Those don't exist!_

"I never believe anything I can't see," she muttered to herself. "But I saw it for sure this time."

 _Your mind can't be trusted at the moment._

Besides, it hadn't been the fantastical element that was hardest to digest. The credence of that was much stronger in comparison to the rest. Ruby, though discouraged, still insisted that she wasn't just Weiss Schnee. She was _Weiss Schnee_ \- a huntress of Beacon Academy, destroyer of the Grimm, and the caster of magical glyphs.

Ridiculous. Weiss imagined that many others would go to sleep praying, wishing that they could be so lucky to have some supernatural element enter their lives and brighten up everything that had been dull and mundane. Yet in spite of all this, Weiss was adamant that no amount of sorcery or the existence of fearsome monsters would be enough to spruce up her life, to transform it into a life of purpose and excitement.

Tomorrow, she'll be gone. She promised.

Tomorrow, she will be gone.

A warm bath had never felt so cold. She didn't simmer in it for long, worried that one of her father's servants would come upstairs and find a dazed stranger sitting by the foot of her bed. Vigorously rinsing and scrubbing, Weiss thoroughly washed the filth off of her pale skin, and then dried off her body, along with her cumbersome long hair.

Wrapping a towel around her chest, Weiss couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something crucial. Her wet uniform was drying on a white shelf. She hadn't left the water on, and nothing about the bath tub was out of the ordinary. She wiped away a section of the foggy mirror, peered into her naked reflection, and then realized her childish mistake.

Amidst the confusion, and the desperation to get out of her state of wet discomfort, she had forgotten to bring in a batch of fresh clothes. Weiss groaned at her own stupidity. Turning the doorknob, she peeked out of the vertical gap, and to her dismay, Weiss found Ruby still sitting on the floor, guarding her previous position. She was as static as a statue, immersed in thought. Weiss hoped that the girl wouldn't notice if she slipped by, but the smell of soap and the thick cloud of steam instantly gave her secret away. Ruby glanced up when Weiss reemerged, but the eye contact was temporary. Immediately, the red hood dove the other way, cheeks growing stunningly crimson, matching the outline of her vivid clothing. Weiss, acting unperturbed and unnecessarily dignified, wrapped the white towel closer to her body.

"Don't look!" She ordered shrilly.

"I wasn't going to!" Ruby squeaked, incredibly embarrassed.

Weiss quickly ran to her closet door in order to change. It took longer than it should, due to the energy spent shooting dangerous daggers in Ruby's direction and attempting to hold up the towel and simultaneously pull a nightgown over her head. Eventually, she managed to complete the task, huffing and tossing the towel onto the floor when she was done. Ruby never budged, her hands covering her eyes and her nose burrowing into her opened palms. Quite frankly, the action was a bit cute. Weiss gave Ruby one more appraising stare before moving to her wardrobe and clawing through her belongings.

"You can open your eyes now."

Ruby, only after hearing this statement, dropped her hands back to her lap.

"Here."

The girl caught what had been thrown at her: a pair of cotton pajamas Weiss only seldom wore on laundry day. In return, Ruby provided her with a quizzical expression.

"You weren't thinking of sleeping in those?" Weiss said rather peevishly, not wishing to spell out every act of kindness she did.

"Uh..."

"Leave your dress to dry in the bathroom," she suggested briskly. "There's shampoo and soap by the shower curtains."

"...All right."

Roles reversed, Weiss was the one to wait by the door, with a demeanor that carried the very opposite definition of patience. When Ruby did reappear, she was cleaner and more content. Perhaps the girl had been even more filthy than Weiss imagined, because with the washed hair, and the set of normal 21st century clothing, Ruby could have just as easily passed as a regular citizen, a pretty one at that.

"Thanks for lending me your clothes." The girl grinned appreciatively.

"They do seem to fit pretty well." Weiss nodded approvingly, pretending like she hadn't been blatantly staring. "And thank you."

"For what?" Ruby observed herself. "For wearing your clothes?"

"I meant thank you for rescuing me," she expanded tersely, a harsh edge entering her voice again.

"Oh. You're welcome." The recognition only rewarded Weiss with a crooked, slightly incredulous, grin. Oddly enough, Ruby acted like she was unfamiliar to expressions of gratitude.

"What?" Weiss had to ask, not understanding the bizarre nature of the gesture.

"Nothing. It's just rare for you to be thanking me." Ruby merely extended the length of her strained smile. "Let's just try and get some sleep," she instead stated, and then advanced towards the bed.

"Excuse me?" Weiss choked, stepping forward with a warning finger raised in the air.

"What?" Ruby frowned. "Did you want me to sleep in the guest bedroom?"

"We've known each for a day and you want us to sleep together?" Weiss uttered sharply. Yes, the mattress was big enough to fit both of them quite comfortably, but she was beginning to grow tired of this exercise of trust.

"I've known you for a year, Weiss," countered Ruby, with a momentary flush upon her face. "And we used to share bunk beds all the time."

But after receiving another scathing glare, the girl surrendered the cause. "Fine. Fine. I'll just sleep on the floor."

Weiss felt conflicted, but upheld her decision nonetheless. It wasn't too cruel of her. She had to draw the line somewhere.

Ruby was the first to lie down; she made peace with the ground, though Weiss couldn't imagine it being even close to comfortable. In slight pity, she threw one of her spare pillows and then crawled into her own bed, without waiting to hear another "thank you."

It had been forever since she slept in a room with somebody else, Weiss noted. The sound of another's breathing became more prominent as she laid awake, feeling peculiar against her ears that had grown accustomed to solitude. Its presence, along with the presence of rain lashing onto the roof and the window sill, rendered pangs inside her heart. The creation of an abnormal sensation, both plaguing and calming.

The last occasion had been with her mother at the hospital. In retrospect, the incident was even less pleasant than the current situation.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"Hmm?" She vaguely responded, still in miserable thought.

"I just realized," Ruby said quietly. "You don't have a scar."

Weiss paused, and then tilted her neck, facing the girl who was now lying down. Raising her head from the pillow, she stared at the girl with a puzzled expression. Quite possibly, Ruby was more confused than she did herself.

"What happened to your scar?" Inspecting her face, she repeated in a meek manner. "You used to have one across your left eye."

"What are you talking about?" She deliberated for a moment. "I never had one."

"Oh." The word was inadequate, considering that the girl had been the one to start this absurd accusation. Weiss waited, but the girl didn't seem to be able to find a better response.

"Okay" was the rather plain feedback she garnered next. There was a twinge of emotion at the rear end of it, a slight quivering, akin to fear if Weiss had to hazard a guess. A reaction that, like many others, did not make sense to Weiss.

But, perversely, she bit her tongue against the flood of questions. Her reasoning was probably flawed by exhaustion; she hoped that by postponing the discussion, and taking a long nap, she could formulate a better solution in the morning.

"Go to sleep," muttered Weiss. "You can figure it out tomorrow."

Ruby complied, setting her head onto the floor. She laid sideways, pressing her left cheek on the wood, keeping a conspicuous stare on the bed posts. Nervously, Weiss glanced away, not being able to escape from the prickles running along her skin. Fluffing her pillow, she attempted to close her eyes and relax.

Weiss spent a night of restless sleep, this time for different reasons than usual. And judging by the tosses and groans coming from her restless guest, she wasn't the only one who would be tired the following morning.

* * *

A little bird chirped outside, alerting the beginning of another weekday. Weiss groaned, mentally communicating for it stop making that ungodly sound.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Miss Schnee?"

Weiss scowled at the disruption, burrowing her face deeper into the softness of her pillow.

"Psst, Weiss!"

"Mmph?"

"I think someone's about to come in," hissed Ruby, appropriately urgent.

There was another series of knocks, and then there was the turning of an old doorknob. Reality jolted inside her, shooting sparks into Weiss's inane brain.

"Wait!" She shot forward in her bed, flipping back and forth between Ruby and the opening door. "Don't-!"

"Don't what, miss?" A middle-aged woman, wearing a thick sweater and a white apron, asked as she entered the room. Her behavior seriously lacked in any color.

Weiss tried to clear her vision of the lingering effect of last night's slumber. Even once she did, she remained blind, for her eyes, which had evidently seen Ruby Rose sitting at the corner of her room just a few seconds ago, could no longer locate the girl anywhere in the near vicinity. Her room was clean and spotless of suspicion.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no. I just-" Weiss blinked furiously. "It's nothing."

"Well, your father wanted us to check on you," the woman said, with a sympathetic smile. "He wished to speak with you before heading to work this morning."

"Um, all right." Weiss attempted to fix her bed hair. "I'll be down as soon as I get ready."

The woman nodded kindly, and then scuttled out of the room, thankfully, with good manners, shutting the door behind her as she left. Once she disappeared, Weiss could afford to search around her room with a clearly befuddled visage.

"Uh... Hello?" She called out, feeling remarkably stupid. "...Ruby?"

"Is she gone?" The familiar female voice echoed out, but to Weiss's frustration, the owner remained invisible.

"Where are you?" Disbelief laced her tone as she spoke. "How are you doing that?"

"Relax," snorted Ruby. "I'm right here."

A subsequent thump alarmed Weiss. She surveyed her left, steering herself towards the source of noise. It had been the closet door popping open to reveal Ruby, sitting on top of her clothing, treating them like they were cushions. The girl was already fully clothed in her usual eccentric attire. Her silver eyes were alert; she must have been awake for minutes, even hours.

"How did you get in there so fast?"

"Do I have to remind you again what my semblance is?" said Ruby, maddeningly smug.

"I would rather you didn't," retorted Weiss, feeling very sluggish and uncooperative this morning. "How long have you been up?"

"Not that long." This seemed to be a harmless lie.

"Well, it's a good thing that you're dressed." Weiss grunted, forcibly hurling herself out of her warm sheets. "We have to go."

"Go where?"

"To school."

She shook her head mechanically. "Our school got burned down by the Grimm, remember?"

Weiss handed her a wry expression.

"Oh, you mean your new school," said Ruby, disconcerted. "Why would I go there?"

"Well, you can't stay here. If one of the servants catches you..." She shuddered at the possible scenario. "Meet me outside of the house, in front of the main gates."

Ruby was frowning at her, but did nothing to contradict her. Weiss was just beginning to get used to the girl's presence. And if one fact about Ruby had been solidified over a single day of observation, it was that the girl was always willing to listen to her if she urged strongly enough.

Within her peripheral vision, she saw a brooding Ruby clambering out of the window. A second passed and she was gone.

Free to change, Weiss rushed to get dressed. Most of her uniform had finished drying during the night. Her cardigan was still slightly dirty and soggy; Weiss decided that she could live without it for a day. She would do laundry in the weekend. Combing her hair and brushing her teeth, she was ready in record time. Her aching body rushed itself down the stairs, speculating over what her father would want to speak to her about.

Reaching the main floor, she was guided through the corridor she discovered yesterday, the one that led to the large dining hall. It was spacious, like all other rooms in the Schnee mansion. A huge mahogany table took up half the space. It was both wide and long in structure, decorated by a lengthy cloth of linen.

Her father waited for her at the center end. Despite being in comfortable home attire and eating from a plate of round bread, his posture remained that of a businessman, a chairman of the board officially calling the meeting into order.

"Weiss." The man addressed her as she walked. A breakfast plate - containing cooked eggs, bread, and a collection of fruit - had already been placed by a seat close to her father's side. Reluctantly, she sat where her food had been designated.

"Good morning, father," she greeted him stiffly. Somehow, the succeeding encounter felt even more awkward than the first.

"You're going to school already?" He asked, folding his newspaper which read today's stock values. Weiss noticed that most of his breakfast remained untouched.

"Yes, I wanted to exercise," Weiss answered, half-honestly. "And I like to be early."

"Good," said her father, claiming to like what he heard. "How are your classes so far?"

"They're fine," she gave the customary response. "Challenging, but I'll catch up somehow."

The chitchat died for several still minutes. Weiss succumbed to the smell of her toast and took a few nibbles as she lingered in her chair.

"I was told you arrived home late last night."

Weiss sat rigidly, interpreting the statement to be a subtle manifestation of his disapproval.

"It wasn't too late," she tried to argue, but it seemed as though he had already developed an opinion regarding the matter, much earlier than her own arrival.

"Your curfew will be set at eight. I want you to eat dinner at home from now on," he settled the issue, with a tone of indisputable authority. Her father calmly chewed on a piece of sliced sausage, as Weiss opened her mouth in disbelief. "Winter will be visiting soon as well. I'll let you know the date once the details are decided."

Her attendance was mandatory - this was the hidden message.

"...All right." Wearing an expression too bleak to hide, Weiss quietly placed the buttering knife back onto the table. "May I be excused?"

"Yes," he granted after a session of brief meditation. She had already escaped her seat by the time he confirmed his decision. Weiss made some weak endeavors in the beginning to endure his company, but they were too hopeless to be persisted in.

Fearing no consequences, she grabbed her belongings, her school bag and her wallet, and then swiftly headed out the front door. Running to the gates, she found that a driver hadn't been stationed for her convenience. Weiss was forced to wonder exactly what it was her father expected of her. If staying out late created such repercussions, she didn't even want to think about what he would say about her latest actions: ditching school, fending off a rabid beast in the middle of the street... Weiss doubted that her recent interactions with Ruby would ever be deemed as acceptable.

"Why are you going to school so early in the morning?" The hooded girl did not hesitate to pounce on her as soon as she left the mansion. "It's only seven o'clock."

"Because there was a crazy girl staying at my room," Weiss growled rather fiercely, "and she brought along a creature that could have nearly killed me." She went past Ruby, knowing that the girl would travel alongside her, regardless of being asking or not.

"That wasn't my fault," fought Ruby, completely unfazed by the blame and the former's irritable mood. "The Grimm feed on negative emotions, like fear. You must have been really upset for it to follow you around like that."

"And whose fault is that?" Weiss opposed, mortified by this new piece of information. "You almost gave me a heart attack at the library yesterday."

"What library?"

Weiss turned on Ruby, stopping entirely and wearing a face that was all business now.

"I swear, I never followed you into some library!" Ruby attempted to defend her feeble reputation.

"Oh, please," cut Weiss, refusing to acknowledge yet another impending squabble. "I don't want you near the school grounds, all right? There will be no talk of an insane cape-wearing, umbrella-wielding girl over there. Do I make myself clear?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, patently giving up on the matter. "As crystal," she muttered reluctantly.

"Good," breathed Weiss, trying to modulate her voice. "Now. I have to go to school. You can do whatever you want, but I will meet you here afterwards, around four... If you still need my help that is." She added that last part in with a slight twinkle of hope.

"I do." Ruby's expression was vulnerable, yet her voice remained unrelentingly firm. "I'll be here."

"Fine," grunted Weiss, unavailable to hide her honest disappointment.

The two marched down the avenue, then onto the main road. Weiss didn't like the weird looks she was receiving from those who were walking by the streets. Most of their stares were directed towards Ruby, who was proving to be an even bigger drag than the previous morning. Disgruntled, she trudged off onto the different side of the road, yearning to distance herself to the furthest extent as she departed.

* * *

"...European immigrants were crucial to America's economy at the time. So to answer your question, yes," Mr. Oobleck nodded, "the Irish Potato Famine will be on our final exam at the end of term. And here's why!"

The male student, who had made the senseless inquiry, sank lower in his seat, appearing guilty and responsible.

"The Irish Potato Famine! It all began when the British government placed a commercial tax on majority of the nation's domestic products. Soon, potatoes became convenient food sources that everybody can grow due to their prices and levels of availability. However, a single reliance on one crop can bring drastic consequences! This is why when the crop was assaulted with a terrible rot, the nation had to suffer from disease and hunger. Approximately two million Irish people perished as a result of this tragedy. Our textbooks, however, glaze over this fact and simply refer to it as a reason for the sudden influx of immigrants. It is true that a lot of these Irish citizens fled from their homes in order to search for jobs in America, yet the life of immigrants were never as dreamy as they imagined, especially ever since the-"

Brrrrring!

Weiss released the hard grip on her pencil, gasping in relief. The bell had saved them all from their teacher's feverish rant.

"Well! That's all we have time for today. Remember, your first drafts, comparing the lives of Irish and German immigrants, are due by next Friday. Do not plagiarize because I will know!" Mr. Oobleck swished down another long gulp of caffeine. "Class dismissed!"

The room regained its life. Students filed out of the door, happy to embrace the end of the school day. Weiss dawdled, organizing her angry notes into a neat pile and then shuffling them into a clear folder. She discerned that one another figure remained in the room, in no rush to get anywhere.

"Ahem." Weiss had the decency to nudge the unconscious blonde as she stood up from her desk. There was a short snort, an audible sign that the girl had been effectively woken up. Raising her head, a drowsy Yang glanced over her shoulders. She looked at Weiss, who had her textbooks packed in her arms, and then around at the emptying classroom.

"I think I slept through that," she mumbled.

"I think you're right," echoed Mr. Oobleck's amused voice from the classroom podium. "What was so boring about my class today, Miss Long?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor Oobleck." Yang yawned. "I stayed up all night cramming for my calculus exam."

"And how did you do?"

"Pretty well, I think." She grinned cheekily. "Blake helped me study, so she'd be expecting to see some results for her hard work."

"Well, you'd better be doing the same for my quiz next week," their teacher said, wearing a charmed grin. "I'll be expecting a solid A from you, Miss Long. Don't disappoint me."

"I'll try not to."

"And, Miss Schnee," the man addressed her abruptly, breaking Weiss out of her reverie. "May I speak to you for a moment?"

"I'll see you later then!" The blonde smiled fondly at her as she rapidly packed up her belongings. Books and pencils stuck out of her backpack, but she forcibly closed the zipper nonetheless. Tumbling out of her desk, she waved informally at them and then rushed out the door, apparently dying to leave the building.

"Yes, professor?"

"You look a bit ill this afternoon," he ogled her, square in the eyes. "Are you sick?"

"No, professor," she replied, slightly startled. "I just-"

"I prefer Doctor Oobleck," he cut in politely, "Or Mr. Oobleck."

"Mister-"

"You can even call me Bartholomew if you want," the man added playfully. "If you feel daring enough."

"Mr. Oobleck," she went for the safest route. "I'm fine. I just didn't get enough sleep last night either."

"And have you been sleeping well these couple of days?" He asked carefully, finishing the remainder of his coffee. "Or was it just last night?"

She hesitated. "...Just last night."

"Miss Schnee. I prefer to be honest and straightforward with my students," Mr. Oobleck told her, his voice earnest and grave. "And as I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the school year, I want to do all that I can to make you more comfortable."

"You've heard things," she accused, realizing where this unforeseen concern was coming from. "Haven't you?"

Perhaps it was only natural that teachers had access to their students' school records. She had expected that a child's family and financial situation would be one of the categories marked in the books. Weiss glowered at him, aiming to bully him into confessing.

"Not at all. I've simply been observant," Mr. Oobleck denied smoothly. Her teacher stood perfectly still, as if waiting for her to burst into tears so that he could provide adult wisdom and consolation. Weiss, however, had no desire to give him the satisfaction of having done something. Because he hadn't. And this counselor charade was beginning to make her feel sour.

"If you ever want to talk, Weiss," he enunciated her name quite clearly, "my office is always opened."

"...All right."

"Well then, I wouldn't want to take up any more of your precious time," the man said, clapping his hands together. "Were you heading home now, or have you taken up any after school activities?"

"...I was thinking of joining the Literature Club," tried Weiss, after organizing a few potential options. There hadn't been many others that would involve so little socialization, attendance, and conscious effort.

"Ah!" He was delighted by the news, surely interpreting it to be a sign of academic enthusiasm rather than an excuse not to go home. "You'll have a friend by your side then. Miss Long is an active member of that group."

"Yang is?" Weiss wondered out loud. She fell silent afterwards, realizing she had sounded pretty doubtful without meaning to. Her homeroom teacher simply found her reaction rather funny.

"Miss Belladonna's got quite a bit of power over her." He winked. "Head to room 103. They should be starting their weekly meeting soon."

Weiss was clueless to what the man could have been insinuating, nor did she wish to dwell upon it for too long. There were other matters that preoccupied her mind. She quickly glimpsed over at her watch as she headed down the stairs. The digits now read 4:12. The clock was drawing closer towards the indicated time, but there was a bit of room to spare. She would hand in an application and then promptly leave.

It felt largely unfair that everything about the world was so serene and ordinary, when in her own inventory there was a ticking bomb, merely seconds away from detonation. Weiss knew that all she was doing was delaying the inevitable. She was obligated to meet with Ruby, who Weiss, out of her indebted state of mind, had promised to assist. She was half-afraid of what would happen to her if she didn't comply. But then again, she had an irrational sort of instinct, telling her from the core of her bones: Ruby would never harm her. It was a raw sort of connection that Weiss could not even begin to understand why. Perhaps it was because Ruby had saved her. That fact was truly the only reason their mutual relationship was still holding together. Today, whether it be the mobile store, or the police station, Weiss would resolve the problem once and for all.

Greeting some faces as she walked around, an old science teacher helped her track the empty classroom where the Literature Club supposedly held their meetings.

She knocked, but there weren't any audible signs of life coming from the inside. She wondered if she came too early, and if the teacher had been wrong about Yang being a part of this club. Anywhere the blonde went, the air buzzed with noise and vivacity. Deciding that she would wait, she turned the handle and then went inside.

"Mmmm..."

Weiss frowned, hearing an evocative moan, which sounded nothing like somebody reading a book. If her ears had heard correctly, it was a bit...erotic. Closing the door behind her, she stepped further into the classroom, curious to know what was happening.

An appalling sight unfolded before her.

Sitting at the corner desks was a couple, both so selfishly immersed in each other's tongues that it took both the slam of the closing door and the loud gasp escaping from Weiss's throat to realize that they had been discovered.

"Oh my god!" Instinctively, Weiss threw up one of her textbooks, using it as a barrier between her eyes and the pair. "I'm so sorry!"

Now this, apart from her mother's funeral, her reunion with her estranged father, and her recent experience with Ruby Rose, was an entirely different level of uncomfortable. Normally, if one came across a couple in a heated make out session, he or she would be lucky enough not to know who the individuals were. In Weiss's unfortunate case, she recognized both. It was especially hard to forget that mess of golden yellow hair...

She took a nervous step towards the exit.

"Wait!" Yang, jerking out of her chair, flung both hands into the air, wishing to prove that they were clean of blood. "Uh, it's not what you think!"

Weiss very much hoped so. Her blue eyes temporarily twitched towards the other girl with raven hair; Blake distinctly flinched, her teeth clenching together like she was in deep pain.

"We weren't doing anything!" The blonde stammered. "Uh... She and I were just... She was only checking if I had any lipstick on my chin!"

Blake gawked at her, thunderstruck. "Yang! She's not thirteen."

"I think even a thirteen year old would know what was going on," whispered Weiss numbly.

"Right..." Yang, having failed in salvaging neither her friend's nor her own dignity, sat back down in sullen defeat.

"Okay." Weiss felt her lips run dry. "I should go."

"Wait!" The blonde yelped, panic clouding her better sense of judgment. "Um, Weiss. About what you saw... Er... We would prefer it if you know... If you didn't..."

"Are you two together?"

The two blanched, glanced at each other, and then at Weiss. For a moment, the enduring horror on their faces made Weiss think that the two hadn't discussed the meaning of their relationship prior to this afternoon. Weiss soon realized that the fault had been hers. It had been her unexpected frankness.

Weiss didn't intend to be so blunt. She was careful not to be read as aggressive. In actuality, the question had merely slipped out of her, disturbed by the sight of the only two acquaintances she had met, sucking on each other's faces. Not to rule out the fact that she had never seen two _females_ kiss so passionately with each other. A shiver was produced by the conception of the image. Weiss didn't know if it was a indication of aversion or acceptance.

"Yeah," Yang ultimately admitted. Looking back now, Weiss felt almost dense not to have noticed. Yang seemed to be regaining that unbelievable level of confidence, although there was a slight nervous edge to her voice now. Meanwhile, Blake had lost all of the color in her skin, which hadn't been much to begin with. A ghostly light loomed over her features, her countenance being the epitome of fear and panic.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Weiss said delicately, much to the consternation of the couple.

It was a variation of the truth. Whether she was uncomfortable with the idea or not, what the two girls did during their leisure time was none of her business. And Weiss certainly wasn't friends with enough faces to spread rumors anyway.

"Oh, thank you," exhaled Yang, her tone saturated with relief. Blake remained pale and sickly, being a more skeptical character than her partner. Evidently, they hadn't known each other long enough to entrust such scandalous secrets. Amber eyes only moved to shadow Weiss, as if searching for hidden schemes and ulterior motives.

"Did you... Did you come here for the club meeting?"

"Yes." Weiss grimaced. "I _thought_ this was the Literature Club."

"It is! But- I mean, this isn't all that we do. Uh-" A strangled cry escaped Yang's mouth, along with an exasperated sigh from Blake's. "I mean this is not what we ever do, period."

"We read," added Blake, breathing unevenly, but in a much calmer state than before. "A lot."

"Is it a large group?"

"Um, no. Not really." Yang confirmed, while her presumed girlfriend nodded. "It's just me, Blake, my sister and her friend. But everybody else was busy today, so it _was_ going to be just the two of us."

Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The blonde didn't take much time to recover, as that statement had been a modest attempt at a flirtatious remark. Ignoring it, Weiss was about to pull out her club application form, having made her decision before witnessing the romance. At least there were two other members in the club, who would - hopefully - be less talkative than the blonde. She was just at the brink of asking for the other two's names when the door slammed open.

The desks in the classroom suffered another short quiver.

"There you are!" A jolly voice rang into the air. "I knew I heard voices."

"Ruby!" Yang jerked forward. "What are you doing here?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I reached over 200 followers this week, and I couldn't have done it without you all. Thank you so much for reading!

Leave comments and reviews down below (they are always greatly appreciated). And stay tuned for more!


	38. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 5)

Sleep didn't agree with Ruby this afternoon.

Tapping her shoes together, she remained on a vacant bench, mindlessly allowing her thoughts to seize her. Ruby had never been known for sitting still and being patient, but several hours of waiting paled in comparison to the weeks of waiting she had done when first wishing for her partner's miraculous return.

Her eyes felt dry and tired, in reminisce of the sleepless nights spent on her travels with Jaune, Ren, and Nora. She had no trouble keeping awake then, wasting away life with petty daydreams and distractions from lurking monsters. At the time, it was at least reasonable to be vigilant, since there was always the chance of a Grimm ambush. Perhaps now, in a place of questionable peace, was the time to rest her exhausted feet.

Sleep didn't come as easily as it did in the past. She was prone to insomnia. Resting her head on her own right shoulder, Ruby tried to close her eyes to no avail.

When she was younger, much younger, her mother used to sing to her in bed. It was a homey tune that Ruby had memorized. It always reminded her of rose petals, the warmth of the sun, and the color of white - the color of her mother's cherished cloak. Ruby stroked the ends of her own garment, a red one which she kept out of sentimental value. She remembered her childhood in Patch; Ruby had punched an insensitive boy in the nose for making fun of her over-sized cape. It was the only time her father had been called down to the school. He had been slightly disappointed in her. Yang, in the meantime, beamed at her in pride.

Once the melodies disappeared, her sister selflessly took over her mother's place (thankfully not in song, even if Yang did have a decent voice). Even as a small kid, who missed her family deeply, Ruby had never demanded it from Yang. But Yang never needed to be asked to take care of her family.

.

 _"So," said Yang, tucking her little sibling safely into bed. "What do you want me to read you tonight?"_

 _"I don't know." A younger Ruby pulled on her sister's pigtails as she giggled. "You choose!"_

 _"Well..." The blonde clicked her tongue playfully. "How about the tale of the four seasons?"_

 _"...Nah! Not that one." Ruby shook her head rather quickly._ _"I want uncle's stories," she specified._

 _Her sister frowned in disapproval. "You know, dad doesn't really like it when Uncle Qrow tells us about pretty tavern ladies."_

 _"No!" It was too early for Ruby to have mastered the eye roll. All she knew how to do was flail her arms around in a fussy fit. "I want the ones about monsters."_

 _The little blonde was noticeably silent for a moment, her shoulders drooping as she stared at her sister's unassuming face._

 _"Okay." Yang's smile poorly concealed her true thoughts, thoughts that a child could not understand until she was a little bit older. "The ones about monsters then."_

.

She would give anything to hear her sister recite the tale of the four seasons, or any fairy tale for that matter. In fact, even a word of comfort or encouragement would have been enough. There hadn't been any communication between them in ages. A few grunts here and there could hardly qualify as a full-fledged conversation.

Thinking about Yang was too greatly an emotional burden. Reluctantly, Ruby moved away to another face she intensely missed.

The figure of Blake Belladonna was a nice image to have when preparing to sleep. The girl was private, reserved, and everything about her was soft spoken. Her faunus friend had once said something about restive nights... Her memory went back as far as the day of their Initiation.

.

 _Restless, Ruby had gotten up in the middle of the night to make herself a warm cup of hot chocolate. The petite leader was certain that she was the only one awake, especially at two o'clock in the morning. In jittery excitement, she dunked two marshmallows into her mug and was about to tiptoe back towards her bed. When she turned around however, she found two pairs of amber eyes staring at her right through the darkness._ _She nearly screamed. Nearly, until a cold hand slapped over her mouth, muffling her forthcoming cry._

 _"Mmph!"_

 _"Ssh," whispered the shadow. "You'll wake the others."_

 _"...Blake?" Ruby lowered her voice, obeying at once. "What are you doing up so late?"_

 _"I couldn't sleep," her friend answered simply, choosing to edge closer to her bed, the one standing to the farthest right._

 _"Are you nervous too?" Ruby chirped happily, dying to strengthen their line of new friendship. "I mean, we're officially a team now and our classes start right away. I can't wait to go out on actual missions and kick some major Grimm butt. Just think! In four years, we're all going to be real huntsmen and huntresses and we can travel around the world together and-!"_

 _"Ruby," Blake interrupted her calmly, but with a mildly warning tone. Two beds away from them, the heiress slightly stirred._

 _"Oops, sorry," she apologized quietly. "I got too excited."_

 _Clearly, Blake didn't share her opinion regarding this matter. Even in the darkness, the girl rivaled out the shadows. Her dim expression and her heavy aura were highlighted in black. But there was at least a twinkle of warmth in her eyes, as if interested by a newfound beacon of light._

 _"You'll make a great huntress, Ruby."_

 _"You too, Blake," the leader eagerly returned. "I'm glad we're on the same team."_

 _The girl didn't choose to say anything to this._

 _"You should get some rest," she instead replied. "Tomorrow's another big day."_

 _"Exactly! I don't think I can calm myself before then." She looked to her mysterious teammate for suggestions._ _"What do you do when you can't fall asleep?"_

 _"I just don't."_

 _"Don't what?"_

 _"I don't sleep."_

.

Drat. She had forgotten that cats tend to be nocturnal.

Currently, she had fallen into this category of resignation. Losing sleep didn't seem to be an awful solution, it was a better choice than suffering from uninvited nightmares. But then again, Blake wasn't the best person to go to for advice. Ruby loved the faunus dearly, but the girl had ran away once from their team, and twice from Yang. She wasn't sure if following in her friend's footsteps would be wise.

That left her thoughts to solely linger on her partner.

Ruby never had too many late night discussions with Weiss. The Ice Queen kept to a strict schedule that proved hard to interrupt. There was the exception of that one incident, when she had argued with the heiress, fighting over the position of leadership and whether or not Ruby was capable of leading a team of four at the age of fifteen. They had made peace with it, which was unexpectedly instigated by Weiss. What followed after was a sincere and pleasant banter between two blossoming friends.

.

 _Weiss returned, bathed and dressed in her usual sleeping attire. Her hair was down once again and Ruby couldn't help but marvel at her partner's appearance during the night: the rich, snobby, heiress of the richest company in the world of Remnant, dozing off soundlessly in the bed below hers. They exchanged a brief look before Weiss climbed under her own blankets, vanishing from the team leader's point of view._

 _"Thanks for the coffee," Ruby said to the girl nonetheless, ignoring her sister's loud snores. "Although I don't think I can plan on going to sleep now."_

 _"Weren't you going to study all night long?" It may have been a jab at her lack of endurance, or it could have been a subtle joke. Ruby wasn't sure. She decided to interpret it as a light tease._

 _"You don't need to force yourself to study for my sake," said the heiress's faint voice._

 _"I'm not! I'm just...trying to be a good leader, I guess."_

 _"...You already are," Ruby thought she heard her partner murmur. She grinned broadly to herself, believing her ears rather than trying to confirm it over with the heiress, who would obviously deny having said anything nice._

 _"Hey, Weiss?"_

 _"What?" The Ice Queen grunted._

 _"I really can't go to sleep."_

 _There was a short, disbelieving sigh. "And what do you want me to do about it?"_

 _"I was hoping you had some ideas since you're so, so smart," Ruby emphasized that last part, feeling like she was in a playful mood._

 _"Oh, ha-ha. Very funny." Weiss scoffed. "You're nothing like your sister over there. The regular pun master, keeping me awake with her insufferable snoring."_

 _"Yang?" Ruby laughed. "You'll get used to it. She's like a big warm teddy bear, actually. I used to sneak into her bed all the time whenever I couldn't sleep."_

 _"I wasn't planning on cuddling with your sister," retorted Weiss, sounding a bit flustered._

 _"And I wasn't saying you should!" Ruby refrained from peeking over her bed. She had an odd hunch that her icy partner would be blushing, a rare sight she hoped to see._

 _"You go do it then."_

 _"I can't go there now." Ruby rolled her eyes. "I might end up waking Blake."_

 _"Then try counting to one hundred," ordered Weiss._

 _"Hmm... Okay. Great idea, partner!" The leader closed her alert silver eyes. "One... Two... Three... Four-"_

 _"Not out loud!" Weiss hissed angrily._

 _"Geez! Sorry!" Half-cringing, Ruby burrowed into her bed covers. "I just can't fall asleep, all right?"_

 _"Well, there's no need to bring me down with you."_

 _"You know, someone used to tell me that when you can't sleep at night, it's because you're awake in somebody else's dreams," quoted Ruby, remembering an old story her mother had once told her on a hot summer night. "...So w_ _hose dream do you think we're in right now?"_

 _"I don't know," grumbled Weiss. "But I do hope they stop dreaming about you soon."_

 _._

These recollections weren't helpful at all. Thinking about Weiss rarely allowed Ruby to unwind, never for adverse reasons but for the good. All she had to do was conjure up an image of Weiss Schnee, and then the girl's mere presence would have the power of keeping Ruby conscious for forevermore. There was a sense of mystery and distance that was vastly different from the one Blake emanated. The heiress, outwardly, was cold. But never did her aura seem to be stating that she wished to be alone, truly alone. Without fail, there was a tiny twinge of invitation at the end of her frigid aura, the minuscule quality of her partner that kept Ruby engaged, concerned with learning more.

Yang had somehow managed to melt down the barrier between her and Blake. Knowing her sister, she had most likely done so with a roaring flamethrower. Ruby, however, only had a short candle at her disposal. It was small, but her efforts would count for something in the end.

Unable to fall asleep, she desired for her real spirit to be elsewhere, perhaps being summoned by her partner's dreams. This was impossible, of course. Weiss wouldn't be thinking about her. The heiress hardly remembered her, and Ruby couldn't even imagine a world where Weiss would voluntarily fall asleep during a teacher's lecture.

Her daydreams amounted to nothing. Neither nostalgia nor the short relapse of memories distracted her completely from reality.

She didn't anticipate on being gone for so long, but a day had already gone. Rediscovering Weiss was an unforeseen outcome for the better. Amnesia was hardly a trivial issue, but she was painfully reminded of what else she had left behind. Regardless of it having been by choice or chance, she was miles away from Jaune, Ren, or Nora, and even farther away from figuring out where they would be. Ruby prayed that, wherever they were, they wouldn't be worried about her.

For a second she couldn't move. Her body must have transferred the feeling of numbness into physical paralysis. Forcing her legs to unbend, she got back onto her feet. In uncomfortable, still-soggy boots, Ruby walked around the restful neighborhood. She asked passing strangers for the time. They gave it to her, never without the strange, judging, glimmer in their eyes. As the clock handle moved towards four, Ruby decided it would be best to slowly turn towards the school, aiming to meet with Weiss halfway.

She had been remembering the directions, and retracing her steps, when the sky above her turned dark. Quickly, rain began to fall. Ruby ran through the streets, heading towards the first store she saw with a large niche to hide out from the downpour.

The shop was a single story stone-walled building, with a slate roof that stood out among other, fancier structures. Through the transparent windows, she saw shelves and ledges, carrying thick hardcover books, candles, and strange-looking objects. Her body etched closer to the front door. Near the entrance was a clear display of alluring little objects, labelled magical balls, ventriloquist dolls, runic artifacts, love potions, charmed jewelry, and rainbow lollipops.

It was too late to turn away; she had seen the man standing behind the counter, a middle-aged man with untidy gray hair and black shaded spectacles. The demeanor of wisdom and gentle authority was unquestionable.

"Professor Ozpin?" Ruby took two gingerly steps inside, her throat growing dry at the sight of another familiar face. "You're alive? How…? They told me you disappeared during the fight."

The headmaster of Beacon stared down at her, with a faint tint of curiosity.

"Professor?" The man chuckled. "I'm afraid I'm just an ordinary shop owner."

Ruby couldn't even begin to understand, her level of cogitation dropping as the oxygen in her brain and lungs rapidly drained. The trauma had been relatively less than before, having already experienced the same lunacy with Weiss. And although being forgotten by her best friend was much more painful, it didn't quite relieve her of the shock that still came around the second time. For if a renowned huntsman like Professor Ozpin had been affected by this plague, then conceivably there was no chance for herself at all.

"But I do know who you are." He startled her, with his face suddenly growing ablaze in excitement.

"Tell me. What is an adorable girl such as yourself doing here," he leaned against the wide desk, "lost inside a world that isn't yours?"

"...Lost?" Her throat clamped up for a second. "I'm not lost."

He gave her a probing glance, looking hardly interested by what she was saying, but more piqued by how she was saying it. "Where are you at the moment?"

"...I don't know."

"And where are you from?" He asked again.

"The kingdom of Vale."

"Then I would think that you are lost," the man deduced, "if you cannot tell me where you are now and if we are not in Vale."

"Can you tell me where I am then?" Ruby asked quietly, squeezing her own hand so hard that she cut off its circulation.

"Well, right now you're in my humble magic shop," he answered vaguely. "Far away from home."

If this man wasn't Professor Ozpin, he sure had a knack for impersonating him, speaking in unsolvable riddles and countering questions with even more maddening questions.

"I don't understand what you're telling me," she decided to tell him honestly.

"Why don't we first get acquainted," her teacher suggested, as he poured himself a cup of tea from the back table. "You already seem to know who I am. I think I have the right to know your name?"

"Ruby." She gulped. "Ruby Rose."

"Miss Rose." His brown gaze pierced into hers. "Do you believe in magic?"

There was a long, puzzling pause.

She mulled over the term, frowning for it was hardly ever used in her world. The origin of it ran deep, possibly created by their ancestors when they tried describing Dust upon its first discovery. It was used to describe an action both unnatural and unfathomable. However, Dust quickly became the main source of energy propellant for the rest of Remnant, too closely studied and widespread to be anything more than ordinary.

"...Um... No," Ruby determined.

"And why not?"

"Because it's not magic if everybody can use it."

Her reply appeared to sincerely surprise the man. Intrigued, he persisted with his interrogation. "So, in your world, everyone can manipulate the matter of energy and do whatever they wish with it?"

Is that what Aura was? Ruby merely shrugged, her scientific knowledge only touching the surface of how Dust worked.

"That's a strange, strange universe of yours. I'd like to hear more about it." Setting down a cup of tea in front of her, he eagerly went on. "You see, it is believed that there is no finite set of universes. Although time and space are intangible concepts, some say that they are flat and never ending."

"If so, we are presented with the possibility that there are an infinite number of hypothetical universes in our future, including the ones in which we live in already, and ones in which we do not exist." The man lowered his glasses by a quarter of an inch, leveling an intense stare in Ruby's direction. "But just because we do not occupy these particular universes, it doesn't mean that they aren't inhabited by others."

"In these alternate dimensions, space, time, matter, energy, even the laws of physics, all of them are left to our own imagination and our choices. They may be identical to our own, or they have the potential of being something entirely different from us."

"You, Ruby Rose, like everyone else, belong to a universe." The wind howled viciously against the windows. "However, you do not belong in this one."

"But-" She definitively shook her head. Dumbstruck would be the most befitting illustration. "But how?"

"Everything that ever happens, happens for a reason." There was an unwavering amount of power in his voice. When he asserted his point of view, hers vanished in an instant. "There are no coincidences. If you are here, you must be here with reason. A purpose that led you here, even if you can't remember it, or weren't aware of it to begin with. Either you needed to be here or, vice versa, you were the one needed."

"I'd suggest that you find your answers quickly." He saw her expression, paused, and then smiled rather chillingly. "Otherwise, it might be too late."

"Too late?"

"Balance must be restored." There was a glint of craze in his eyes. It held her captive, unable to escape. Her tea cup remained untouched. Ruby felt her pulse run wild, fighting the urge to leave. "Return this world to what it once was, Miss Rose. I fear a storm is coming."

There was a colossal explosion. The sound of it seemed to blow the room apart as thunder echoed mightily from behind them. In an instant, the electricity went out. The sky was letting a flood loose. Not mere droplets, but truckloads of water fell from the top.

"That's enough, boss," an annoyed voice intervened. A lean man in his early twenties walked out from the storage unit, carrying several dusty boxes in his arms. "You're scaring all our customers away," he accused, scowling darkly.

"Forgive me," Ozpin said, peacefully sipping from his chamomile tea leaves. "I was only speaking the truth."

"Listen, kid." The worker addressed Ruby. "Our shopkeeper likes to have his fun. He does this all the time. You see those flickering lights? He has a switch behind the desk that makes them do that. Stories are the only things he have left. So don't listen to a single thing he tells you, all right?"

Evidently, Ruby had been too shaken to hear his cautionary message. She shook her head violently, avoiding any eye contact with her could-be professor. Akin to having a seizure, the young huntress toppled out of her stool and raced out the door, into the crashing storm.

Professor Ozpin was one of the greatest huntsmen to live in this century. That man inside the shop looked like him, talked like him, but he had a feature that drastically told him apart: a manic level of enthusiasm. He was smiling, but his words felt like fire. The good humor did not reach his eyes, which were burning and dangerously perceptive. And although his largely interrogative demeanor led Ruby to believe that the doppelganger was simply a crazy clone, she couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. The speech he cited still carried that same taste of ancient sagacity.

This was the same case as before. Weiss looked like herself, talked like her usual self, and behaved as stubbornly and skeptically as ever. And yet, the differences for her partner had also started to show. They were subtle, but she had noticed them just the same. Like how she parted her hair slightly differently, like the lack of her facial scar. Aura healing didn't work that way. As improbable as it was to bring back a lost arm, one could never revive dead skin.

But she was still Weiss Schnee, wasn't she? She had to be the partner Ruby knew and loved: the Ice Queen with her soft spots, the heiress fighting to be a huntress against her father's wishes, the stubborn teammate who could bring them into line with her virtuously self-asserting manner.

Then what did this entail? Ruby was mortally afraid of being wrong, after her frequent and vehement claims of honesty. Nevertheless, all the evidences were pointing towards a direction she could no longer argue with.

Burdened, she broke into a desperate run, her boots sloshing, every patch of her clothing sodden. Rain streamed down her face and chin while blood drained out from it in turn.

Did she really belong to another world? She ran even harder. Or was she simply losing her mind? She ran until the people around her turned obscure. Soon her blood-laced pants reached the premises of a peaceful private school. She had promised Weiss not to follow, and yet the temptation had been too strong to withstand.

Sound withered away in the devastating wind. Very few people stood outside the front doors of the building. Ruby was noticeable in the crowd, in her battle attire, standing defiantly without an umbrella. One of the voices recognized her and proceeded forward. It came in the form of a young bright-haired girl, with lime green eyes and an uplifting smile. Already, Ruby was surrounded by the ghosts of her past. One of them stood before her now, looking at her like they had just enjoyed a nice chat. A petite redhead waved at her, said hello to her, and called her by her first name.

"Ruby!"

She struggled to breathe, a fit of weeping creeping up like bile, like tears rising from deep within her.

This figure was different from Weiss, who had been taken away to Atlas, from Professor Ozpin, who was presumed missing by the most optimistic of minds. Ruby couldn't accept her friendly greeting. Normally, the recognition would have been welcomed without any ambivalent thought. Today, it was different.

With Penny Polendina, it was different.

Because Penny Polendina was unmistakably, unequivocally, meant to be dead.

* * *

Weiss knew where she was, who she was, and what day of the month it was. These were the sorts of tests a person conducted when self-diagnosing for a stroke or a brain aneurysm. Considering that she wasn't seconds away from collapsing onto the ground, Weiss took it as a sign to mean that a certain someone had forgotten to abide by a certain set of governing rules.

Honestly, she growled, the request hadn't been too much to ask for. If Ruby had waited for another ten minutes or so, Weiss would have joined the girl by the convenience store several blocks away from the school. Instead, the girl had to come here, parading along like she was a fellow attending student.

"There you are! I knew I heard voices."

Annoyed, Weiss had half the mind to swat the girl on the nose with her book and then drag her out of the classroom by the ends of her cape. Weiss was prepared to do whatever it took to explain the situation to Blake and Yang. That was the plan, or at least it _had_ been the plan until her mind registered two strong anomalies.

Anomaly number one. There was nothing for Weiss to grab and use as the wild girl's leash, because Ruby wasn't wearing her signature red cloak. Instead, she was wearing their school uniform, a perfect match from the black socks, to the navy skirt, to the white buttoned shirt.

"Ruby! What are you doing here?" Yang questioned, surprised by the girl's company. "I thought you had a track meeting today."

Anomaly number two: she was recognized. Just last night, this girl divulged that there was nowhere else for her to go and that she had no relatives or friends who were in close distance of contacting. Now then, how in the blazing hell was she conversing with Yang like they knew each other since recess?

"It got cancelled. It's raining like crazy and the field's too muddy," replied Ruby, shaking some remaining droplets of water off from her reddish hair. "Geez, sis. At least take a comb with you to school," the girl commented shortly, an off-handed joke at the messy state of the blonde's hair.

"Shut up," muttered Yang.

"What the hell?" cried Weiss.

Yes, everybody in the room – Blake, Yang, and the bane of her existence included – was staring at her now, looking like they had witnessed her swallow a neighboring fly. But no other phrase even came close to describing the situation than those three words. Seriously… What the hell?!

"Is something wrong, Weiss?" Yang was the first to break the silence. She may have been worried for her sanity, like they all very much should be.

Frankly, Weiss didn't know how to answer. Was something wrong? Technically, everything that could possibly be going wrong in the world was going wrong. She never felt the need to be dramatic with what she thought or said. The current circumstances did many promising things to make her change her mind.

The worst part was the indifference. The worst part was Ruby, standing there in full school uniform, wearing that perfectly innocent face of concern and confusion. It was convincing enough to fool any passing visitor. The facade, however, was futile against Weiss, for Weiss knew what the girl was now. She was a wolf, merely hiding among a herd of sheep.

"Um... Hi? I don't think I've ever seen you before." A friendly hand was extended to her. "I'm Ruby. Who are you?"

At this point, Weiss truly wished that Ruby Rose had been insane the whole time. She truly, truly wished for Blake or Yang's next words to be: "Hey, Weiss. Here's our friend, Ruby. She's a bit mentally unstable so please be gentle with her." Because if there weren't going to be any excuses as detailed as the ones she expected, then Weiss's doubting nature had no other choice but to conclude that she had been toyed with the entire time. Maybe this was a scheme that they were all in on, like prank television. After all, Yang had been strangely insistent on taking her out with her _sister_ the other day.

Her sister. They were related. A feature about the blonde had always distinctly reminded Weiss of someone else. Now, she was cruelly remembered of where she had seen Yang's smile before, whenever the blonde made a joke or bickered with Blake Belladonna. It had been the same one she had glimpsed at, the very first and last smile Ruby had given her when they first met on her bedroom floor.

It hurt her, to an abnormal degree. The realization came after, when Weiss discovered that it had been because she actually _cared_. She had taken the time to puzzle over Ruby Rose's words, behaviors, and strange mannerisms. She had taken the effort to try and understand where the girl was coming from and at least attempt to help her in some way, shape, or form. Ruby had saved her life, and though everything else may have been an elaborate performance to others, Weiss wanted at least this fact to have been true.

Then, after the throes of betrayal, came the rage. For what reason, Weiss did not know. She daresay didn't need that detail in order to embrace her fury. Weiss glowered at her, besieged with rightful anger. Everything about the girl, and what she embodied, now stood in firing range of Weiss's vengeful wrath.

"Ruby, this is Weiss," Blake introduced in her stead, sensing the tense shift in atmosphere. "She's the new transfer student in our grade."

"Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you." Ruby laughed nervously. "I'm a year below you, so you probably haven't seen me around or anything? Unless you're taking economics with all the freshman and the sophomores. Because if you are, then I should have seen you? But maybe I wasn't paying much attention or-"

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Weiss growled, nearly lunging for her backpack to throw it at the girl's clueless face.

Ruby signaled for help from Blake, the sensible one.

"What are you talking about?" Blake kept a wary eye on Weiss as she asked. "Have you two met before?"

Just as Weiss's patience was about to expire, a fifth figure walked into the empty classroom.

"Hello, friends." Heads turned to greet the other female student: a redhead, with hair closer to orange than pure scarlet. Her steps were as agile and joyous as a songbird. She had short curly hair that hung below her chin, along with a fair skin complexion and a light sprinkle of freckles around the brim of her nose. Bright green eyes sparkled around the room. "Oh, Ruby! I didn't know you would be here."

"Hey, Penny."

"I thought I saw you in front of the school," the redhead hummed, casually walking towards her group of schoolmates, not realizing the moderating effect of her own words.

"Uh... Nope?" Ruby breathed momentarily, gladly accepting this congenial form of distraction. "I just left the gym and then I came straight here."

"That's strange," Penny remarked. "There was somebody outside who looked exactly like you."

"Really?" Easily fascinated, Ruby asked eagerly. "How exactly? Is she still there? I always wanted to meet my doppelganger."

"I don't think so." Penny frowned with belated confusion. "She ran away after I tried talking to her. It's weird though... She knew my name and everything."

"She knew who you were?" The topic sparked great interest in Yang as well; the blonde glanced over at her sister in mock concern. "Are you sure you don't have an evil twin out there, Rubes?"

"What did she look like?"

The air of levity dropped quickly, the silence contributed by Yang, who had snapped her mouth shut at once, startled by the interruption of one of her infamous jokes. Ruby pressed her lips together, similarly afraid of what would be happening next.

"The girl that you saw." Without meaning to, Weiss addressed the redhead in an oddly confrontational manner. "What was she wearing?"

At the urgency of her inquiry, Penny's visage turned serious. "She was wearing a weird black dress... Along with a bright red cape."

That was all that Weiss needed to hear. She fiercely walked up to the redhead, resolving to decrease the distance between them to barely a feet before pursuing the most important question of all: "Which way did she go?"

"Um..." Penny tapped nervously with her feet. The others, particularly Yang, stirred in their seats, as if they were preparing to pry the girl away from their friend if the situation turned violent. Instinctively, Weiss calmed herself, taking in short but steady breaths as she loosened the strength in her clenched fists. All she thirsted for was the truth, the veracity that would soon free her of this tortuous jigsaw.

"You said she ran away from you," Weiss tried again, hoping not to frighten the redhead again. "You must have seen where she went," she reasoned.

"I think she went towards the park, but I'm not too sure."

Normally, Weiss would never act unless all facts pointed towards a verdict that was one hundred percent in accuracy. Yet the instant the nervous redhead revealed her estimations, Weiss could not bear to sit around and let the possibility of answers rot with her.

She ran for the door.

"Wait, what's going on?" Yang jumped to her feet. "Where are you going?"

Weiss ignored her. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

She realized what was at stake, how freakish it would appear for her to leave after the chaos her actions had caused. Running away would be a catastrophe, but at the moment, she downright didn't care. The benefits outweighed the costs. Weiss did not know what would be in store for her in the end, and yet she knew that the pathway leading up to Ruby Rose - the one she had talked to and shared a room with - would be the right one to choose.

Promptly, she escaped the room. It was one of those few instances where Weiss felt a surge of faith in her athletic abilities. She didn't see where her legs went, but Weiss promised herself that she wouldn't stop until she reached the front entrance of the school.

Instead, her ears led her to where she needed to go. They tracked the sound of gushing rain, bombarding the ground like bullets. A single clap of thunder and a flash of lightning came a few seconds after. Weiss had missed the part of the conversation that warned her of the brewing storm.

Shoving the rest of her books into her bag, she found that she carried no umbrella. The only one that she owned was lying underneath her bed, still in a ruined state after being shoved down an ugly beast's throat.

"Wait!" A voice cried out to her. Weiss whirled around, confused by the interruption of her thoughts.

It was Ruby. Not the Ruby Rose she knew or cared about, but the Ruby who belonged to the school, to Yang, and to Blake. She decided to call her Ruby number two until the mystery had been cleared.

"Where are you going?" asked Ruby number two in a panicky rant. "It's pouring out there!"

There wasn't a hint of dishonesty in her, only concern.

"I have to go," Weiss mumbled. "I have to check."

By saying this, she relieved her mind of what had always been there, more or less, the doubt: insane or sane, wrong or right, she had to see it for herself.

The girl began digging out a small and narrow object from her backpack. "Do you have an umbrella with you?"

"No."

"Then here."

A brief flashback occurred when Weiss remembered the first time she had been passed on umbrella by a girl who looked exactly like the one standing beside her. Except, this time it was a gesture of pure kindness and cheery innocence. And this time it had been handed to her without a prior murderous hunt. The contraption was bright red with black polka dots, a bit flamboyant to suit Weiss's tastes, but an umbrella nonetheless.

Numb and dazed, Weiss accepted the offering in a blur of confusing emotions.

"Be careful," she was told. "Getting hit by lightning. It isn't that uncommon, you know."

"But-"

"Don't worry, I'll be going home with Yang. But next week, you have some explaining to do, okay?" Ruby number two smiled warmly. "Oh! And just for the record, I do remember you now."

"What...?"

"I saw you at the library yesterday, when I was looking for something to read," she explained, positively delighted by her own memory. "Isn't that what you were talking about?"

For a minute, Weiss couldn't speak, all of her breaths trapped inside.

"Um..." She succumbed to her mistake. "Yes?"

"Well, it was nice to see you again then!" The girl ran inside, after waving briefly as she turned. "Bye!"

Weiss faltered, just seconds away from mindlessly returning the gesture. Then another roll of thunder carried her back.

The sun never emerged, its surroundings too dark and vengeful. Even the great gray clouds coiled against the wind. Maybe it was utter madness to run out in the rain in this weather. However, somewhere along the line Weiss made the conscious decision that using an umbrella during a storm would be perfectly safe. Pacing as fast as she could through the abrasive air, Weiss went ahead. Big, sopping drops of moisture grazed at her bare knees. The wind made them wild and unpredictable, though the showering bullets did less damage than the spongy earth underneath her feet, sinking her shoes into the soft soil, slowing her steps by a notable amount.

Leaves shuddered violently as a group. A couple were blown away from their homes, racing past Weiss's eyes and ears. They guided her path, allowing her to shift the umbrella towards the direction of the fickle wind. It acted as an applicable shield.

Through the cluster of cars and cramped city streets, she found the town park easily due to its verdant color of life. The place was hardly occupied. Any children who may have been nearby the local playground, any elders who could have been sitting on a park bench, leisurely reading the daily gazette, were absent. The only ones present were rushing, eager to leave.

"...Ruby?" The rain drowned out most of her calls. Anxiously, Weiss raised her voice, wishing that human will alone could chase away the fear and hesitancy that still leeched upon her throat. "Ruby Rose! Where are you?"

There was no answer. Several bikers, who hadn't predicted the storm, stared at her in astonishment. Unperturbed, she maintained her shouting, walking around aimlessly with a dying threat, gazing up and down the paved road, not even entirely sure where to start her search.

"What are you doing here?" A wary tone reached her from the heavens.

Silence engulfed the sentence in an instant. Her pulse sped up. Weiss shook her head, hoping that she had not heard wrong. It came somewhere from above, and the sound had belonged to a female. Eyelashes moved rapidly, catching great big drops of water as she tilted her umbrella backwards, tackling the rain with her bare face as she saw without obstruction. Ruby was sitting several feet in the air. Legs dangling off a thick tree branch, she wasn't even looking down at Weiss. Her silver gaze held business elsewhere, fighting to see through the haze of the storm instead of peering safely towards the ground.

"I found you." Weiss shuddered as she spoke. Weiss realized that she had been pleased by this, and this knowledge thoroughly surprised her by the minute. Although it took a moment to admit it completely, Ruby had taken such a strong possession over her. Stepping forward onto a pile of discarded leaves, the cold stopped tormenting her at once, fleeing under the protection of the large oak and the petite girl who rested on top of it. "Ruby, come down here. I can't talk to you like this and I am not going up there for you. I'm terrified of heights."

However, all she heard instead was the girl's red cape, fluttering weakly as not even Mother Nature acknowledged Weiss's proposal with the tiniest gust of wind.

"Ruby!" She called out again with a determined edge. The girl still refused to let herself be noticed. It was a fruitless situation and Weiss knew better than to throw a fit after the way she behaved the previous night. There were diplomatic ways of getting what she wanted. Screaming and kicking at the tree trunk definitely wouldn't be one of them. However, a proper method of making peace with the girl would require much more time and energy than Weiss could afford, standing out here alone in the rain, in a strange city, with no friends or a real family.

So Weiss did what a reckless person would most likely do. What this so-called Ruby Rose would have done for her. Abandoning the umbrella, her fingers dug into the grooves of the thick trunk. Her efforts did not go unnoticed. Because once she reached the center of the tree, groaning and grunting, cussing and breaking a fingernail, she was finally given the right to stare at the silvery orbs of Ruby and have those foreign eyes return the favor.

"I thought you said you were scared of heights," mumbled Ruby.

"I am!" Weiss yelped, nearly screaming again as she quickly lost her balance. Ruby caught her by the arm before she could topple over the branch. "And I'm not exactly fond of climbing trees either, but I did what I had to do!"

Her body felt that same tingle of warmth again, from adrenaline and that inexplicable relief that came with Ruby's companionship. Her nose filled with the strong scent of musty leaves and moss. Her wrists and ankles were aching and her body protested against the rough surface of the bark. But there was a matter that was infinitely more important than her own physical comfort. "I needed to talk to you."

"Why? I was just being a big nuisance to you," said Ruby in disagreement. Her demeanor had changed so drastically within the hours of brief separation. It alarmed Weiss, especially since she bore no reason to have initiated such a hostile air.

Weiss tried to logically embrace the issue. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She received no coherent reply. Ruby's shoulders simply sagged a bit more and her dreary eyes moved down to inspect her own hands rather than face Weiss's question.

"I told you to wait for me." She huffed. "Why did you come all the way here to the school?"

"Were you really planning on coming back?"

"I know that I was running a bit late, but-"

"Please don't lie to me." There was a hint of malice as Ruby asked for the second time. "Were you really going to come back?"

Weiss stopped to examine whether this idea really did reside within her. No, she refuted. She had meant to return, even before the damning evidence came in the form of Ruby number two.

"...What do you mean?" Weiss found the courage to continue. In response, the girl crossed her feet and fixed her gaze onto her muddy shoes, solidifying into another immovable state.

Multiple times Weiss vainly thought about resuming the conversation. Yet whenever she opened her mouth, or gave the subtle notion that she yearned to speak, Ruby looked over at her with a forlorn expression, as if requesting to have the silence last just a little longer.

"I saw someone," Ruby eventually answered, jaws tightening as she talked.

"Who did you see?" She asked slowly, pretending not to know.

"...I saw someone that I shouldn't have seen. Someone that shouldn't be here, not anymore," said Ruby, reverting to a countenance expressive of grief and despair. "But she was standing right there in front of me. Alive."

The last word sent an acute chill down her spine. Ruby was speaking of this person in a terribly familiar tone, like one often used when recalling the dead. Weiss felt an ominous presence tighten at her heart, triggering the night of her mother's funeral as an icy reminder ran through her bloodstream. Her grip grew firm the tree branch, conjuring a bitter curse upon the cold.

"And she wasn't..." A broken mumble twisted through the air. "Whoever it was, it wasn't even her."

Ruby didn't seem to be breathing, too busy grappling with the sudden shift in everything she knew. Weiss could sympathize. She was still immersed in the struggle herself.

"I don't know what's real anymore. Am I really going crazy?"

"Maybe we both are," Weiss admitted weakly. There wasn't any verbal response to this either, but there didn't have to be one for Weiss to confirm that she had been heard. When she spoke to her, Ruby listened, and in due course answered, but never gave her a sincere glance. This was plain to see, even for the most oblivious observer. Weiss, during the interim, often looked closely at the girl, not wondering why she felt the need to do so.

"I saw you at my school today."

Ruby winced, acting like she was caught at the scene of the crime. "I know. I didn't go inside though, I swear-"

"It's okay," Weiss stopped her. "I'm not mad, I'm just telling you what I saw."

Even now, with all the impossible deeds that have been established, she still couldn't understand it fully. She contemplated on contacting Ruby number two and holding a conversation with her, in the presence of Ruby number one, just to make sure that the two coexisted at the same time. Instead, she decided to take a leap of faith. "I saw someone who looks like you. _Exactly_ like you. She's also called Ruby Rose...and she's a student at my school."

She anticipated this to have caused some sort of physical reaction. Her guesses died poorly. The hooded girl did begin to quiver, but her visage remained roughly static, as if she had been told this already and had come to terms with it. Her chest twisted at the sight.

"How is that possible?" Ruby ultimately murmured.

"Because this isn't your world." She summoned a note of sympathy. "You're not crazy. You're just- You're in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So you're not Weiss."

"I am Weiss," she answered instinctively.

"But you're not Weiss Schnee." The girl accused her again, her quavering voice reflecting the tumultuous pattern that hid behind it. Grief touched the girl's features, more clearly than ever before. It took a moment to realize what Ruby precisely meant.

"You're right," said Weiss quietly. "I'm not."

The girl immediately turned away, her wet bangs sticking to the corner of her eyes.

"Ruby-" Yet the girl glided away the instant Weiss made an effort to touch her shoulder. It was a flinch, as if everything about their intercourse left nothing to retrieve but pain.

"I'm sorry for bothering you then." Again, she said with the same dim sentiment that Weiss could not possibly grasp. There was an involuntary movement below her wrist. Her fingers twitched by an inch, edging oddly closer to Ruby's hand. But Ruby's figure left her, just as quickly. Her body lurched forward abruptly and the girl landed on the ground, safe but not any happier.

Ruby did not call her Weiss then. She hadn't been properly named ever since they last parted.

"Wait!"

She wanted Ruby to be the last thing on her mind. She was never the one to believe in fairy tales, anything related to the supernatural or the afterlife. The lure of adventure and mystery hadn't been the one to set her decision into action.

Her choice was the product of that single, pitiful, look on Ruby. The countenance that wore all the sorrow and hollowness existent in the world. It made Weiss feel small, even shameful. She was entitled to feel miserable. But this girl's face, compiled to form one excruciatingly clear emotion of pain, made her lost of reason. There was one other soul that didn't belong here, a point of empathy they both could now share. This unseen force was drawing her in fast.

"Let me help you."

Silver eyes pierced into her, sifting through her heart to search for Weiss's real intent. Weiss met her gaze with scarce confidence. It was crucial that she did not break eye contact. Yesterday, she had taken Ruby home out of mixed gratitude and fear. Today, the previous motives were eclipsed by one imperious thought.

"Ruby, I believe you."

As soon as that was established, the uncertainty left her in its dust. She didn't know how long it would last. Yet even if their partnership together should be fleeting, she would do what she could to help this girl return to her home.

With the red hood pulled deeply over her head, Ruby stayed silent, causing the wait for her reply to extend across several disheartening minutes. Refusing to be kept wondering by those inscrutable pale irises, Weiss observed the ground instead. This had been a dumb mistake, considering where she was. "But first... Could you help me get down from here, please?"

And for a second, something slipped and Weiss was staring at a whole new person, perhaps the ghost of who this girl once used to be. A gracious smile found Ruby's lips, enduring beautifully before the girl remembered the quandary she was stuck in.

"You know…" The girl pursed her lips, looking torn between being intrigued and being saddened. "You're not like Weiss at all."

"Does _your_ Weiss know how to climb trees?"

"No." Ruby paused. "She just never says please."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I apologize for the mistake I made in the previous chapter. I wrote that Weiss's scar was on her right side instead of her left. It has been fixed. Thank you user djjohns94 for pointing it out!

Thank you so much for the follows, favorites, and your precious comments.

I hope to see you soon. Until next time, stay tuned!


	39. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 6)

"Achoo!"

"See? What did I tell you?" Weiss continued to fret, wearing an expression that seemed to be saying, "I told you so."

"Ugh, I'm fine." Ruby groaned, defiantly rubbing the end of her reddening nose. "It's just allergies."

"Allergies. Of course." Rolling her eyes, Weiss tossed down a box of tissues from her desk. The girl looked to be on the verge of violently sneezing once again. "I mean, what were you thinking? Did you actually believe that running around in the middle of a rain storm would be a _good_ idea?"

"Well, you're one to talk!"

"I had an umbrella!"

At this, Ruby shot her a rather frank stare, and then rudely pointed to their piles of soaked clothing, which were lying dismally on the bathroom floor. Weiss's stack, though smaller in volume, was creating an abnormally larger puddle.

"I suppose it didn't make much of a difference… But still, it was better than nothing," concluded Weiss, in a mildly indignant tone. Ruby merely shrugged, still believing that her point was more valid. She draped a towel over her shoulders, making sure that no droplet of water strayed from the strands of her wet hair. Weiss watched in peculiar amusement as the young girl attempted to discreetly mop up the floor with her socks, which were technically borrowed from her to begin with. For a minute, the two stayed in awkward silence, ears heeding to the thunderous sound of rain that continued to descend from the sky.

Weiss had managed to enter the house, noticed by only one of the servants, who had been raking the leaves off the disastrous front porch. She had wished to sneak Ruby in, using the main entrance this time. This was a considerate thing to do, since her guest was already soaking wet and miserable. Also, not to mention the fact that climbing up to a third story window would be incredibly dangerous in such a tempestuous weather. Yet Ruby insisted on scaling up the mansion walls, claiming that she could do it as easily and secretly as last time. Of course, Weiss had to dash up the stairs on her tiptoes, unlock her bedroom window, and then practically lunge for Ruby, just in time before the girl slipped off and fell on her neck.

Despite undergoing a traumatizing revelation only several minutes ago, Ruby seemed to be coping well with her new perilous reality. Yes, she was brewing in sullen silence for the most of it, but there weren't any visible tears or angry tantrums. Weiss would never know what to do with herself if she ever had to be on the comforting end of the conversation. Even the previous light banter had been executed quite naturally. The emotions hadn't been forced, as she had been sincerely worried for Ruby's well-being, and Ruby didn't dismiss her concern as simple pity anymore.

However, their conversation did not reconvene for a long time, not until Weiss's ears generously picked up on a soft and harmless growl. Disregarding subtlety, Weiss gaped at Ruby, who appeared to turn slightly sheepish, locking her arms around her rumbling belly. Feeling responsible, Weiss got back onto her feet.

"I'm going to get you something to eat," she declared, after hearing another plea for food from Ruby's famished stomach. "You probably didn't have anything decent for the entire day."

"Actually, a kid on the playground shared his pretzel with me before you came," confessed Ruby.

"Oh? And in your world is that considered decent?" Weiss honestly had to ask.

"Well… No. Not really." Ruby's grin fell flatly. "It _is_ considered nice though."

"It _is_ nice to share. But it wasn't a very proper meal," sighed Weiss, already walking towards the door with her decision made. "Now, please wait here."

She closed the room door behind her and searched around the third floor, making sure that she was alone and that her secret companion wouldn't be discovered. The corridors were empty, and only after confirming this fact did Weiss head for the stairs. The food pantry would most likely be located on the ground floor, along with the kitchen and the dining hall.

The old butler was nowhere to be seen. This was a good thing, since he was always the one to ask the most inquisitive questions and make the most accurate assumptions about her whereabouts. The rest of the staff didn't care as much, or were simply less qualified at their jobs. His lack of presence was suspicious, and only gave Weiss further reason to stay alert in her slippers. Keeping an eye out for any tall man with thinning hair, Weiss crept down to the first floor and stealthily walked towards the kitchen.

Upon reaching her destination, she was infinitely grateful to discover that the place was coincidentally empty. Weiss looked around the vacuous space, tried several doors, until she successfully discovered the one that led to the storage unit.

Against high hopes, there weren't any pre-cooked meals sitting like ducks in the pantry. Weiss considered the possibility of asking one of the chefs to fix her up with a meal, but she would have a hard time explaining why she wanted two servings and why she wanted to eat both of her meals upstairs, locked inside her own bedroom. That was a risk she wasn't willing to take.

Instead, she peeked around, uplifting small boxes and cans, trying to figure out which substance would be most appropriate to bring with her.

She wondered how much a little girl like Ruby would be capable of eating. Frankly, they were of similar heights, but it didn't sound like Ruby had a proper meal for a very long time. Perhaps tomorrow, after school, she could treat the girl to something nice at an actual restaurant. Then again, Weiss objected to her own thought, maybe doing so much wasn't necessary. Weiss was _helping_ the girl, not befriending her. She must insist that there was a difference. Ruby's stay was only temporary. She couldn't allow herself to get too attached.

First, Weiss aimed for some fruits. Luckily, there was a crate full of assorted apples on the left side of the wall. She took two red ones, to match the color of Ruby's cloak. After which, Weiss found an opened sack of bananas and ripped the most ripe one off from the group. She pondered if this could count as theft, taking food from her father's kitchens. Then every part of her body wisely told her not to care. She located a clump of paper bags on the shelf and dumped her findings inside one of it.

What came after fruits? Vegetables, of course. Potatoes, mushrooms, or anything she would have to cook were definitely out of the question. Weiss simply decided to shove a few baby carrots and cherry tomatoes into her brown bag. They, along with the apple and the banana, should be enough to keep the young girl healthy and alive. As long as Ruby didn't complain (which she no right to do), Weiss would be more than satisfied with these minimum results. She picked up a few extra for herself and then folded the top of the paper bag.

Just before exiting the room, she found one other counter she hadn't searched through yet. Inside, she uncovered what perceived to be a mountain of dessert servings: chocolate chip cookies, raisins, rice puddings, and pop tarts – things she would never have expected to find in her father's house. She jeopardized another minute of thievery, trying to squeeze a few cookies out of their packages. When the thick plastic covers didn't plan on ripping, Weiss grew impatient and simply decided to take the whole lot with her. Between her and a ravenous demon-slaying huntress, a box of cookies shouldn't be too difficult to finish off.

Remaining vigilant, she carefully tread out of the pantry, tightly sealing the entry shut, and then went straight for the stairs again. It was a bit harder to run, especially with the rustles coming from the bundle of food. She cradled it like a baby in her arms. Miraculously, Weiss reached the foot of the stairs without getting caught. Unfortunately enough, she had clamored up only two of the first thirty steps when a deep voice cut into her early celebration.

"Miss Schnee!" The old bird must have heard her breathing. Grimacing, Weiss reluctantly turned around, nervously glimpsing down at the man who was addressing her. He glanced over at the scavenged items she carried. His eyes narrowed in mixed curiosity and astonishment. "Hungry, are we?"

"Um... Starved, actually."

"We can prepare you some _proper_ food in the kitchen?" He offered, gesturing towards the dining hall, from which she had clandestinely escaped from. "I'm assuming you haven't had dinner yet?"

"No, I did! I just…" She fumbled around, hurriedly trying to construct a probable lie. "I just wanted some snacks to binge on while I studied."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, decidedly.

After a period of watchful silence, the butler nodded briefly in compliance. "I'll let your father know that you've arrived home."

"All right."

"He'll be glad to know that you're here early," he said, carefully tracing the outline of his mustache with his finger. "There's been a number of worrisome things happening in this neighborhood after all… The weather alone is out of control, and of course there's that recent incident with the-"

"Yes, well," she cut him off shortly, with an air of legal formality. "I'm sure my father will be _extremely_ pleased to hear whatever you have to tell him. But I really have some studying to do, so you'll have to excuse me..."

And then she went away, leaving the man to do nothing but stare at her retreating back figure. Even as Weiss paid him no attention, the man persisted in standing there in the most uncomfortable way. Once she reached the top, she peered over the railings and saw him eventually drift away, undoubtedly heading to report his duties over the phone. Weiss wasn't sure why she felt the need to be so bitter. She just was.

In sulky triumph, Weiss re-entered her room. Ruby was exactly where she should be: the same place as before. Locking the handle behind her, Weiss settled the food onto the ground, ripping open the bag to create some form of a tablecloth on the floor. It felt like an odd feast, or a deranged sleepover minus the junk food. There was always one exception, and to Weiss's great disapproval, Ruby took one look at the pile and dove straight for the cookies instead.

"Hey!" Quickly, Weiss snatched the box away from the girl, after Ruby had already skillfully ripped the wrappers off from the packet. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What?" Ruby, for the first time in ages, sounded angry with her. Not making the least account of this crossed complexion, Weiss obstinately stood her ground.

"This is supposed to be dessert," she asserted, hiding the box behind her back despite Ruby's crestfallen visage. It was almost like kicking a wounded puppy in the face. "Eat your vegetables first," she managed to say, avoiding the girl's expression which was beginning to weaken her resolve.

"Geez, Weiss. It's not like you're my mom." The girl murmured before suddenly transforming into a statue, choking upon her own words. "I mean… Uh…"

Weiss stared curiously at the girl, trying to guess what the problem was. The girl seemed to have stopped being miserable, no longer peeved by the confiscation of her precious snack. Instead, she appeared uncomfortable, almost as if she had said something that she wasn't meant to say. This was an unusual reaction, indeed. Especially considering that Ruby did not know that the mentioning of either of her parents was deemed as taboo. Thankfully, that left very little to decipher.

"You can still call me by my name, you know," she told the girl directly. Judging from Ruby's rigid posture, Weiss knew that she had guessed correctly. "It hasn't changed."

"I know," Ruby said thickly, the corner of her lips drooping into a frown. "It just feels so… It feels weird."

"But it shouldn't be." Crossing her arms, Weiss said in an oddly strained voice. "I'm still Weiss, even though I may not be _your_ Weiss."

Calling out her own name in third person made her feel funny. She was still getting accustomed to this idea, this idea that there was another her, somewhere in another universe.

"…Yeah… You're right." Ruby understood. Then, out of the blue, the girl started to shove a few carrot sticks into her throat, silencing herself once more. She hardly munched before wolfing all of them down. "Um… So… Can I have some of those cookies now, Weiss?" Ruby asked timidly, once she was done. There was a childish glow in her smile for appeal. An unfamiliar surge of heat entered Weiss's cheeks at the sight of it, and at the dear mention of her name.

The name certainly did have a different ring to it, now that the truth had been established. Weiss mulled over why it must be so. If Ruby had, until now, been addressing her with the belief that she was somebody else, it explained why there was now the sudden lack of familiarity and openness in her voice. When Ruby thought that she was speaking to her former partner, there was humor: friendly quips and affectionate jests. Now, she knew how Ruby Rose would act in front of a total stranger. Skittish, nervous, and so entirely awkward, it was even worth of adoration. It wasn't a terrible change of attitude. Weiss, by all means, preferred this version. It, at least, meant that she wasn't living under another's shadow.

"I'm sorry… You're probably right about needing some of this." Weiss pulled out two from the box, which Ruby took with zealous enthusiasm. "I'll try and stop fussing over everything."

"No! I wasn't complaining or anything." Eyes widened, Ruby fervently shook her head. Somehow a cookie had already found itself lodged inside her mouth. "It's nice to know that somebody cares."

The words came out slightly garbled, since Ruby had no patience to swallow before talking, but the sentiment of gratitude remained the same. Once the second cookie in Ruby's hand passed from view, Weiss tipped her several more, and the girl was in higher spirits.

Weiss smiled, feeling pleased and entertained that this girl could be so trusting, and that small pleasures out of life, such as a chocolate chip cookie, could still make a difference to a terrible day. She took one herself. It felt like a century had passed since she voluntarily fed herself, for the purpose of wanting to taste the food she ate. Chewing softly, Weiss gave another laugh at the ridiculous turn of events. Then she remembered to be herself, and quickly cleared her throat.

"Anyways," Weiss said coolly, making the wise decision to stand, stepping farther away from Ruby. "I have some homework to do… Why don't you eat up and rest until I'm done?"

"Sounds good." Ruby smiled. She looked around the room again and then returned her gaze back on Weiss.

"So... Does this mean I'll be sleeping on the floor again?"

* * *

Ruby Rose did sleep on the floor last night. And Weiss went to school the following morning, with a massive dumbbell of worry weighing down her heart.

Before her departure, she established a new set of ground rules for Ruby, her short-term roommate. It was simple. Basically, if she heard anything, she was advised to hide. After witnessing the girl's admirable level of speed and agility, Weiss knew that Ruby would have to try very hard in order to get caught.

Even so, Weiss urged her to keep her guard up. The promise had been made in exchange for a fresh box of snacks. The ones from yesterday evening had mysteriously vanished overnight. Munching on some oatmeal cookies, Ruby waved goodbye to her from the third floor window. Weiss elaborately pantomimed at her, ordering the girl to crawl back inside before somebody saw her.

Her father, after hearing the news of her early return, must have had a change of heart. The black Cadillac was waiting for her since early morning, and the driver safely took her into the backseat of his vehicle. Riding relatively comfortably to school, a number of different thoughts ran through her head. They were as random as wondering about where her father would be at this exact moment, or musing over what Ruby would be doing, alone in her room, with nothing to accompany her but a box of cookies.

Pulling up by the busy street of her school, the driver dropped her off, several minutes in time before eight o'clock. Slugging her bag over her shoulders, Weiss resorted to carrying some of her heaviest textbooks, instead of gouging a hole in her bulging book bag. She was not yet used to the sea of foreign people or the scent of pine cones and evergreen trees. Fortunately or not, there was one familiar face that sought her out among the crowd.

"Hey, Weiss!"

She glanced around and saw the sudden emergence of lilac and gold. Yang Xiao Long was joyously walking towards her, footsteps turning into a jog once the blonde realized that she had captured Weiss's attention. Weiss stopped temporarily, allowing Yang to catch up to her before continuing with her regular pace down the buzzing school corridors.

Weiss dreaded the blonde's next words, remembering how she had last left the conversation. However, it appeared as though she had nothing serious to worry about, as Yang certainly wasn't angry nor upset.

"What's up?" The athlete grinned brightly at her, mirroring her steps as they walked.

There was also no sign of nosiness that Weiss had equally been dreading. Though she had known the blonde for only a short while, she didn't seem to be the type of person to respect another person's sense of privacy. Perhaps Blake had something to do with the blonde's lack of questions. Or perhaps Weiss was simply overthinking everything as usual.

"Nothing," Weiss answered slowly, attempting to be aloof as she hugged her pile of books. "Nothing at all."

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"...A bit," she said ambiguously, imagining what the blonde would think if she told her the truth.

"Well, you do look a lot better than you did yesterday," commented Yang. "I guess you didn't really need to cram for Oobleck's quiz today?"

"What quiz?" Weiss asked sharply, controlling a mini-heart attack – the one that everyone had when they had forgotten their homework or there had been a back page to the test.

"Oh." Yang seemed to instantly realize her mistake. "Oh, crap! I forgot to tell you! Oobleck likes to have his pop quizzes on Thursdays. Sorry!"

Weiss outwardly sighed, though she was relieved to know that her memory hadn't been shot and that she hadn't just forgotten to study for no reason at all. Thankfully, she had reviewed the class material last night, which increased her chances from totally failing.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine! They're easier compared to his exams." She could sense the sincerity from Yang's tone of apprehensive recollection. "Last time, our test was over seventy questions long. It was murder! I barely passed that one."

"I guess we'll have to see," she heaved.

"We were planning to go study for the upcoming test next week," Yang mentioned quickly, as if now was the right time to input her thoughtful invitation. "Do you want to join us?"

"I can't," Weiss replied truthfully. "I have to go somewhere after school."

Yang appeared greatly disappointed, but she nodded nevertheless. "All right then. But you're going to have to hang out with us sometime, especially after how you took off yesterday."

"I'm sorry... But I promise you, I did have my reasons."

"Yeah, no worries! It's not like I'm mad at you or anything." The blonde waved off her apology. "Ruby told me what happened."

Yes, Weiss thought, she predicted that the younger sister would have said _something_ about her to Yang. The girl had been the only one to see her run off into the thunderstorm. Weiss barely even remembered what she said, as her mind had been in a rightful haze. She was, however, reminded that she had forgotten Ruby's ladybug patterned umbrella at home.

"And what exactly did she tell you?"

"That you went off looking for a friend."

"A friend?" Weiss smirked. "It should be so simple."

This earned her a crooked stare from the blonde. But before Yang could ask any more questions, Weiss decided to change the subject to her favor. "So… Ruby. She _is_ your sister?"

"Yup. She's two years younger than me, but she skipped a grade. Ruby's a lot smarter than she looks." Yang positively beamed as she spoke. Weiss supposed that it shouldn't count as boasting if the praise was meant for someone else. The blonde had a way with making people around her feel at ease, even Weiss. The length of her smile lasted the longest when she talked about her family members, or Blake. It would have to be an easily noticeable trait of Yang's, if someone like Weiss (who only knew the girl for two days) could figure this out right away.

"I see." Weiss bobbed her head along, not knowing what else to say without making it sound like she had already heard of this Ruby Rose. "She seemed very…friendly."

"Yeah," agreed the blonde, with another proud older sister glow. "She's always been that way. But that doesn't mean you should ever mess with her. She can be pretty feisty when she wants to be."

Weiss frowned. "And how so?"

"Um, for example… Don't ever mess with her sweets. She'll bite your fingers off."

Yang lifted up a section of her sleeve and revealed a faint line of white on her wrist. "See? I still have marks from when she bit me as a kid… Geez! And I was just _pretending_ to take one of her cookies too."

"Cookies?"

Appearance-wise, Weiss was already quite familiar with Ruby. But now, with every piece of additional information, she began to wonder how different the Ruby Rose she knew would be from Ruby number two. If Ruby was unable to tell her apart from her real partner, it was possible that the similarity between the two girls would go far beyond simple looks and preference for the color red.

Weiss tried to recall the bits and pieces of information she already had for comparison.

There were many things she wished to learn more about, but most of them were too personal or abrupt to ask for directly. First of all – Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long – the two presumed sisters did not share last names. Did Yang still exist as Ruby's sister in the other world? If so, were they still related?

"Ruby's last name… Um… It was Long, right?" Weiss asked, sounding convincingly innocent and ignorant. Though she didn't succeed in concealing the quiver coming from her hands. "Since you two are siblings?"

"Actually…" Yang turned shifty too, visibly bothered by the question. "It's Ruby Rose. She kept our mother's maiden name."

"Oh." Weiss pretended not to be too enlightened. "All right."

There was an untimely pause, during which the two students visited their own separate lockers. Yang flashed her a nervous smile here and there, while shoving several of her books and gym bag into the small storage niche. Weiss finished first and tried to, nonchalantly, wait for the blonde.

"So… How is Blake?" Weiss eased in, glancing around the halls to make sure no one had heard her. "Are you two still together?"

"Last time I checked, yeah." Yang smirked as they recommenced their walk. "You know, not a lot can happen in just twenty four hours."

Weiss would have liked to disagree, but it wasn't too hard a thing to resist.

"And… Is your sister seeing anyone as well?" She tried again, with a mild tone. "Someone named, oh, I don't know… David? William? John… Jaune?"

"Not that I know of?" The blonde may not have been as skeptical as her partner, but even Weiss could see that Yang was starting to get suspicious.

Judging from the blonde's remark, the boy named Jaune's potential double didn't attend this school. She would have assumed that everyone Ruby knew in her world, resided somewhere else in this one. There was a chance that her theory was still right and that it was a simple matter of location. Her investigation continued, not yet proving to be totally conclusive.

"Can I ask you something else?" Though hesitant, Yang showed her consent through a slow nod. "What can you tell me about Penny?"

"Are you writing a book or something?" Yang inserted a curious smile, proving to be less and less cooperative by the second.

"No? I… It's because I feel like I've seen her before," she fibbed.

"Sorry, there's not much that I can tell you about. You should talk to her yourself, or Ruby. Ruby would have a lot more to say, since Penny's her best friend and all. I mean, they met in freshman year and they've practically been together ever since," Yang said meditatively. "Oh, maybe you guys used to go to the same school? I think she used to live in Connecticut before she moved here."

"Wait." Weiss fixated on a distinct point. "What do you mean by that? Together as in…?"

Yang's brows scrunched together into a confused knot. "Huh?"

"Are they just friends?" She asked casually.

"Um, yeah." Now Yang looked really, really confused. "Yeah, they're just friends. Why do you ask?"

"Oh." She faltered. "Um... No reason."

Weiss's mind drew a complete blank, realizing that she had no idea how she was to carry on this inquiry. Obviously, Penny was a very important figure in Ruby's universe. If Yang remained a sister in the world of Remnant, would interrogating people from this universe get her any closer to learning more about the mysterious figure living inside her bedroom?

In Weiss's conscience, she doubted very much that this had anything to do with helping Ruby anymore. No, there was a riddle left about the way Ruby talked about the girl named Penny, and in the way she refused to speak of her again. This observation put her actions into flight. Whatever it was, Weiss had a latent impression that there was something there, something important.

"You don't-? …Wait a minute." For some reason, the blonde became rigid as they reached the threshold of the classroom door. Her mouth dropped open, like she was undergoing a wild epiphany. "Oh my god!"

"What?" Weiss unconsciously cowered. "What is it?"

Without a warning, Yang leaned forward, her violet eyes narrowing in a fearsome, interrogative manner. Their noses were almost touching and Weiss audibly gulped, sensing that her palms were becoming gross and sticky with nervous sweat.

"Do you have a crush on my little sister?"

A pin could have dropped in the room, and she would have still heard it.

"…I beg your pardon?"

* * *

"The gravity of the Earth spreads out evenly across the surface of the sphere, so the larger the sphere, the weaker the gravity. But since the surface of the sphere grows as the square of its radius, the strength of gravity, spread out over the surface of the sphere, must diminish as the square of the radius. But if the universe had four spatial dimensions, then…" Ruby took in another deep breath. Shutting her eye lids and exhaling loudly, she was at the brink of throwing away the book in sheer frustration.

"It's pointless," she complained, gently massaging her own delicate temples. "This book is giving me a serious migraine."

"Mhmm…"

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for!"

"Yeah…"

"Weiss? Um, Weiss? Are you listening to me?"

"…Sure."

By the third vague answer, Ruby moved her narrowing gaze away from the essay, directly towards the girl sitting across the table

It was evident that Weiss had been lying. Currently, she was busy, clearly too invested in her own thoughts to be listening to whatever Ruby was reading out from the book of confusing scientific theories. The reason being that, ever since this morning, to the point of the dismissal bell, the ride home, and dragging Ruby out to the public library, all Weiss could think about was what Yang had said.

Now, the blonde was under the profound misconception that she was interested in wooing her younger sister. An outrageous thought that cannot, could not, will not be condoned. Yang even offered to invite Weiss and her sister out for dinner, and then subtly leave in the middle of it. Then she began to grow too excited at the prospect of double dating with Blake. Weiss told her countless, innumerable, times that the blonde had gotten the wrong idea. Except Weiss could never properly argue why she was so interested in asking about Ruby number two in the first place. Her inability to lie always brought her back to square one.

Yes, Ruby Rose might have wormed herself into her protective bubble, but that was an entirely different issue. She had chosen to help Ruby out of sympathy, the kind nature of a good heart- Anything but _that_ answer.

It was easy for Yang to have reached such an improbable deduction- She was committed to Blake! In comparison, this was a puzzling issue to Weiss, who was thoroughly boy-orientated for Christ's sake. Even if she had never actually dated one before, that still didn't mean that she rooted for the opposite team. It possibly meant that she was too busy thinking about herself and her sick mother, or she was asexual, or- _Maybe this is how they get you?_

"Don't be stupid!" She growled at herself. "It's not like catching a cold!"

"Uh… Weiss?"

And before she knew it, her thoughts were interrupted by the same, bothersome, marveling shades of silver. Ruby was ogling her, both her eyes refusing to turn away as they grasped her in virtuous concern. That would have been fine, if the girl hadn't been merely a quarter of an inch from her face, leaning across the table which felt much narrower than before. Weiss had been discomposed enough before, setting a record for the past few days; yet she had been much more discomposed by this tiny unexpected behavior that she was at the point of falling out of her chair, not knowing how to progress.

The appropriate reaction came to her eventually.

"Gah!" She gasped, unconsciously dropping a thick book onto her exposed knee. Hissing in panic, embarrassment, (and pain), Weiss bolted away from her. "Not so close!"

"What?" Ruby asked rapidly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Just-" Weiss stammered, scrambling for an excuse. "Just don't get too close to me. Three feet away at all times, okay?"

"…Okay?" Ruby wasn't sensitive enough to detect anything else, and Weiss would really prefer if she didn't. "Hey, you're a bit red in the cheeks… Do you have a fever or something?"

This so-called huntress was beginning to act too friendly. But it wasn't this trait that added onto Weiss's concern and protruding headache. It was the fact that she was _enjoying_ it herself - a terrifying thought. Weiss didn't know what she was even doing. She promised to help the girl, an offer she had willingly made on her own. But then, she had never analyzed the reasons behind her own actions, looking no further into it other than recording it as a short relapse of empathy. Then, she proceeded to denounce any sort of actions that she deemed too friendly? That hardly was fair to Ruby. The girl was obviously starting to wholeheartedly trust her.

"Maybe I need some air." She quietly rose from her chair. "You can stay here. I'll be right back."

She kept her distance, shifting away, probably more stiffly than usual from Ruby's perspective. Yet the confusion continued to bore into her, so much so that she wasn't sure what part of her inner debate had been kept private. Weiss had an unfortunate feeling that her last outburst hadn't been said with her inside voice. To confirm her fears, a few people glared at her as she slumped out of her seat, wandering into a different section of the library.

Fortunately, the change in atmosphere did help with the clearing of her mind. And the numerous shelves of books kindly prompted her of the current circumstances. Weiss couldn't forget where she was, and with what purpose she came here in the first place. She almost felt guilty for thinking so much about her own problems. Ruby needed her to be rational, and calm, and productive – things she used to excel at before fantasy started to invade her normal life.

Fate seemed to enjoy toying with her. Her footsteps stopped in front of a peculiar bookshelf, drawn by the spaces filled with colorful, illustrated covers. They were children's books. Fairy tales, to be more exact.

Come to think of it, Ruby Rose was technically like a fairy tale character herself. Sorting through several of these genres wouldn't be such a wasted idea. If science had no feasible explanation, maybe fiction did. Fight the problem with its cause, argued Weiss.

She lingered around, running her fingers across the book spines as she silently read the titles. Weiss wasn't familiar with most of them, neither her parents having been much of a story teller when she was little. She did, however, know of a few famous ones. The story of Little Red Riding Hood certainly reminded Weiss of Ruby. But it wouldn't explain how the Little Red Cap ended up here, instead of her grandmother's log cabin. She decided to leave it up to chance again and mindlessly picked a few.

"Weiss." Someone tapped on her shoulder. "Hey?"

Reflexes heightened, Weiss flipped around on her heels, dropping the collection of hardcovers she had intended to read. They fell softly against the carpet; an annoyed Weiss and an amused Blake stared at the pile of scattered books.

"...You scared me," Weiss disclosed in irritation. She hoped that this jittery behavior wouldn't become a bad habit of hers.

"Sorry." Blake did look terribly apologetic. Hunkering down, she helped pick up a few of the books. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just didn't expect to see you here. What were you doing?"

"I was reading…" Weiss mumbled as she, too, knelt on the floor. "Isn't that what you do at a library?"

"Yes, but… Funny, I didn't really take you as the fairy tale type," observed Blake, with an odd twinkle in her eyes. Weiss straightened her back, holding the recovered books closer to her chest, as if not wanting to expose more of her search history.

"I'm not!" Weiss didn't know why she felt such a strong urge to defend herself. Her reputation was already so fragile. "These are for…research purposes."

"You have to write a research paper on fairy tales?"

"Sort of."

"Are you searching for any specific ones?" In response, Weiss sent the girl a quizzical glance. "I volunteer here. I've organized most of these shelves…and I've read most of these books."

Blake smiled offhandedly. "I think I can help."

"I'm not sure if you can," she answered honestly, not out of mistrust, "because even I don't know what I'm looking for."

"There's got to be something you can go on," Blake encouraged her.

"Um… Have you ever read any books about teleportation?"

"Teleportation?" Blake repeated blankly.

"Or parallel universes," she added, and then inwardly slapped herself for having thought that it would have narrowed the search.

"Oh. Well… Let me have a look." Blake appeared stumped, but she went down on her ankles again, pursuing the dusty shelf.

"I can't remember any by heart… Would you like me to check the catalog?" Blake turned to her, smiling politely again. "It would be no problem at all."

There was a mysterious glimmer to her smile, which had the undesirable effect of diminishing its integrity. Instead, she could detect a whiff of hidden motives. Something told Weiss that this random act of kindness went far past the girl's job description. She hated wanting to know, but she always had to know. "Are you only being nice to me because I walked in on you two kissing?"

"...Is that what you think?" Blake had distinctly frozen for a second, but her voice continued on like Weiss had suggested something utterly harmless. She even sounded a bit amused with her next comment. "That's a twisted way of looking at things."

"So, is that a yes?" Weiss prodded.

"Maybe."

It felt satisfying to hear the truthful response. Hence, there wasn't any malice or blame in her next words. "At least you're a lot more honest than your partner."

If Weiss had taken notice that Yang acted especially attentive and accommodating to her, even more so since her first day at school, then Weiss was certain that the blonde's sharp-witted girlfriend would have noticed it too.

"Actually, Yang's intentions would be much more honorable than mine." Blake admitted with a wry smile. "She seems to think that you're a very understanding person, agreeing to keep our secret and all."

"Well, she would be wrong," Weiss was quick to debunk that claim. "I mean- about the understanding part. I'll keep my mouth shut, so don't worry."

"No, I don't think she was wrong about _that_ either _,_ " Blake said absently, as if what she was sharing required no subsequent consideration. "Yang's a lot more perceptive than I give her credit for. And if she's being nice to you, it's not because she's trying to guilt you into feeling anything. That's how she likes to make new friends."

"Friends?" Weiss sputtered the last word in disbelief.

"She talks to you in class, she offers you a seat in the cafeteria. You're in the same after school club as her." Blake frowned as she recited a few evidences by heart. "If you two aren't friends, then what am I supposed to call you?"

"I don't know, a close acquaintance?"

Blake chuckled in good nature, although Weiss hadn't really meant it as a joke. "I'll tell her to stop if it bothers you so much."

"Would she listen?" Weiss asked keenly.

"She might. At least, for a little while." Blake paused, as she decided to take a moment to stand up straight. Rising by several inches, the girl suddenly appeared taller before Weiss. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't want to make any friends here?"

That was relatively true. Still in that same defiant attitude, Weiss blew out a breath and met the girl's amber gaze. "I just prefer to be alone."

"That's understandable." Blake nodded approvingly. "I like to spend time by myself too."

"Really?" Weiss found this to be a small instance of irony. "Then how did you and Yang ever get together? ** _"_**

Blake narrowed her eyes, most likely due to the rude insinuation. "Did you want the whole story or the cliff notes version?"

"I didn't mean to pry," she quickly excused, "It's that... You two seem like such an odd pair."

"Relax, I was kidding." Idly, Blake hummed as she drummed her fingers along the books. Weiss tapped her foot as she waited, wishing she could tell off her own unbelievably big mouth. She really should have kept that last question to herself.

"Well… At first, she just bothered me. I couldn't stand her talking to me all the time. She somehow managed to pop out of nowhere, whenever I'd least expect it." Blake grinned now, but from the way she told the story, Weiss could tell that the girl would have harbored very different thoughts about this in the past.

"She scared me half to death once, when I was walking home and she thought it would be a good idea to sneak up on me and play the 'guess who' game." There was a tiny scoff. "I guessed wrong and Yang ended up getting kicked in the shins."

"So far, this doesn't sound like it has a happy ending," commented Weiss dryly.

"It took a while to get there. At one point, I snapped. I told her to leave me alone because I'm never going to be in the mood for one of her silly jokes." Blake conceded to this fact with a less fond tone. "And Yang listened."

"She _actually_ listened?"

"That's right." Blake grimaced. "We didn't talk for at least a week, I think..."

"And then what happened?" Weiss demanded, wishing to hear the end of it soon.

"...And then I started to miss her."

Blake looked past her, for a single instant with something faintly like complicated bliss. Her gaze faded away, lost its focus. Weiss didn't dare interrupt her again, not when her fellow classmate embarked on a trip of dreamy nostalgia, something she never wanted to be a part of in the first place. Honestly, Weiss had asked a _simple_ question.

Her golden eyes smoldered at a distant, private memory. Then Blake remembered that she was still in the company of another. Turning into a wonderful shade of puce, the girl stroked down her hair as to distract herself.

"I believe I've said too much," muttered Blake.

"Possibly."

"Thanks for listening though," she continued, sounding exceedingly careful of what she said. "It feels...nice to talk about this with somebody else for a change."

"Nobody else knows?" Weiss didn't find this point to be believable either. "Not even Ruby?"

"Yang's mostly worried about scaring her 'baby' sister half to death," Blake drawled. "And as for everyone else… It's best that they don't know. People have the tendency to avoid things they aren't familiar with…"

Weiss nodded sympathetically. "I can relate to that sentiment."

"Can you?" In turn, Blake brightened, in an unexpectedly playful light that complemented her skin tone. "Because I heard a very interesting rumor about you today."

"Excuse me?"

"From Yang, actually."

"Oh?"

"About your little crush?" Blake clarified, holding in a laugh as the teasing look on her face grew prominent.

"Oh." Weiss literally felt faint. "Oh, god. That is _so_ wrong."

"You know, if you asked Ruby out on a date, it would make things a lot easier for us to explain."

"I don't have a thing for your girlfriend's sister, period," Weiss growled, hearing the sound of blood rushing into her ears. "I'm serious!"

"All right, I believe you." Blake chuckled. Although everything about the girl's features was still very teasing, the bookworm seemed to be more persuadable than the imaginative blonde.

"I have to go," Blake announced abruptly, after glimpsing at her wrist watch. "I'm meeting Yang for another pointless study session... I'll see you tomorrow, Weiss."

She didn't provide Blake with a proper farewell. Glaring, Weiss wanted to make sure that the girl knew she was still upset about the humiliating accusations. Blake didn't mind at all, choosing to wave rather innocently at her as she went. Weiss wanted to argue some more, but once Blake disappeared behind another tall rack of books, she decided that it was time to return to her original seat.

It took a minute to retrace her steps, but ultimately she found the back of Ruby's reddish head, staying immovable on that rusty old library chair.

"Hey."

With the greeting, Ruby hedged inwards.

"Hey!" Ruby squeaked without warning. There was a flash of pain in her demeanor, except the girl refused any recognition of it. As if gravely serious about keeping this despair to herself, Ruby gave her a largely exaggerated smile.

"Ruby?" Weiss drew closer. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" An undefinable wince darted across her countenance. "I just read a really sad book, that's all."

She abandoned the novel in her hands, hard against the table to prove her flimsy point.

"...What was it about?" Weiss asked, peering over at the book, which now laid upside down on its pages. She read out the title and the mystery grew more unsolvable. The story of Alice in Wonderland wasn't exactly supposed to be a tearjerker.

"It doesn't matter," Ruby said nervously. She pulled her chair back by an inch, sinking into it even deeper than before. It took every ounce of self-control Weiss possessed not to give the girl a hug. Because that felt like an inappropriate action to take, in the presence of forged happiness. Instead, for no apparent reason, Weiss patted her consolingly on the back.

"I'm sorry for leaving you like that..." Weiss sighed, making sure that her voice was all warm and fuzzy. She was getting better at circulating the right sort of atmosphere.

"It's fine. You, uh, you were busy." Ruby's face did that inexplicable twitch again, which seemed to be a sign of guilt or deception - neither of which made sense from the girl's standpoint.

Ruby's facial message perplexed her, to the degree that she was inclined, several times, to open her mouth, wishing to ask about the topical issue. She twisted her feet, stared at her shoes in vain for some time, and then looked at Ruby, accepting the fact that the girl would not be going on to share. She, however, had a few matters to talk about, her conversation with Yang alone having been somewhat informative.

"Ruby, I have to ask." Weiss bit the corner of her lower lip, stopping short of tearing into her skin. "Do you have any siblings?"

"An older sister." Ruby fidgeted with her unoccupied fingers. "But listen... Can we not talk about her, please?"

"...Why? Were you not close with her?"

"I _am_ close with her, but I just don't feel like talking about her, okay?" Ruby said dully, like she had been through this discussion countless times.

Reading the mood, Weiss immediately held her tongue, withdrawing what would have been her following question.

"Why did you have to ask?" The girl asked quietly. She hadn't lifted her head, so Weiss had no chance of seeing her expression, checking whether or not her nosiness had been caught. But if Ruby wasn't going to be fully honest with her, then there was no reason for her to be.

"…No reason," she stated at last, listening to the warning implication inside her head. The voice told her that any reference to the blonde, during this particular time frame, would be a very poor idea on her part. Although Weiss was deeply interested in this dialogue, she had to let it go.

"I get the feeling we're not going to find any answers here." She instead confessed in a meek, apologetic whisper. "I'm sorry for thinking that I could help you somehow."

"You have though." It was a weak grin, but nonetheless a sincere one from every angle. "More than once."

"But we don't have any other leads to go on."

Rubbing her eyes, Ruby made herself upright, apparently remembering something she had foolishly forgotten. "I think there's one more place we can try…"

For some reason, the girl was hesitant and uncertain about this last-ditch solution; Weiss had to beckon her to go on.

"Back when I was waiting for you… I ran into this magic shop to hide from the rain," Ruby began to recount. "I met someone who, well, looks a lot like my old headmaster from Beacon... He told me that I was lost in a world I didn't belong in."

"What else did the man say?" She questioned with increasing trepidation.

"He said something about there being a bunch of different universes, that I was in the wrong one. And that I needed to restore the balance or whatever." Ruby stopped, long enough for the words to be processed. "He didn't mention anything about how I could do it."

Weiss's heart sank, having to acknowledge the undoubted accuracy of this description.

This was another reason she could add to the list of supporting arguments as to why she could never possibly be helping Ruby out, other than the reasons for sympathy and gratitude. Blake's story seemed to pop into her mind, being recent and altogether surprisingly relevant. Sure, Blake had it good with Yang now, but how did she know if it would ever turn ugly? What did Blake know about happiness as compared to the peace that came with loneliness. What did she know about losing the things that mattered? Weiss didn't want to be lonely. She decided long ago that she had no other choice. From the years of having put this ideology into practice, she was sincerely afraid of its unforeseen failure. It had kept her in safe shadows for a long time, and had protected her for that much longer.

Ruby had to go home. She was getting too close to breaking her pattern. Under normal circumstances, no other person would come close to causing this much of a wreckage, but Ruby Rose wasn't normal in any given earthly context. She was the girl who crashed into bedrooms, ran into storms, and saved her miserable life, giving it - for now - a surreal but meaningful reason to wake up in the morning.

"We should pay him a visit," Weiss stated soberly, dropping this conflict for the time being. "He may know what he was talking about."

* * *

*Excerpt: "The gravity of the Earth (...) But if the universe had four spatial dimensions..." -taken from Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku


	40. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 7)

Figuring out the problem was entirely different from formulating a solution to it. Likewise, Weiss always excelled at reading people, but she had never been very good at trying to make them feel better about themselves.

Ruby had been refusing to utter a single word to her since their departure from the public library. It was puzzling, but the girl in the red cloak seemed determined to carry out the pursuit of this mysterious, magic shop, in complete silence.

In her defense, it wasn't like Weiss was looking forward to their usual conversation-slash-banters, and she certainly didn't mind the favor of peace for once. But then again, the effort she put in to convince herself that nothing was wrong certainly wasn't worth the exhaustion of denial, nor did it merit Ruby in any sort of way.

To be more accurate, the change in Ruby's attitude had occurred ever since Weiss returned from her momentarily awkward conversation with Blake Belladonna. If the girl had been depressed from the start of their trip, at least Ruby had the courtesy of keeping it all to herself, thereby not making Weiss feel guilty over not doing anything about it. Now, Ruby made it quite blatantly obvious.

She wasn't even sure what had triggered it, and Weiss deeply regretted her previous decision to leave the girl alone, even if it had been for a measly ten minutes or so. If she hadn't left the table, perhaps she would at least know what was bothering the tiny huntress so much.

Weiss peeked over her shoulders, for only a few subtle seconds. Like before, Ruby was looking around - her face neutral and her lips pressed into a tight lock. It took a couple more losing debates with her inner self, but Weiss eventually decided to be the first to break the ice.

"So," she started lamely, "Ruby. How are you?"

Her pitiful attempt met a quick death. As expected, Ruby did not cease to walk. Her eyes gazed around the city, circling lampposts and building roof tops before finally settling upon the space above Weiss's right shoulder.

"Uh… I'm fine, I guess," the girl said vaguely. A lurch of frustration almost left Weiss's throat; she wondered if this was what most normal people would have felt like, whenever they tried to ask her about her own well-being. She never realized what a difficult task it must have been, not until she was on the opposite side of the spectrum.

"Right. So… Are you sure the shop was around here somewhere?" Weiss tried again, strengthening her attempt to keep the silence from eclipsing them once more. "It was definitely on a numbered street?"

She internally groaned, as the inquiry made her sound far more impatient than concerned. Ruby seemed to interpret it the same way as well, since the girl's back slightly hunched, most likely out of deflating self-confidence.

"I'm not too sure…" Ruby replied back rather nervously. Her attempts to retrace her steps grew quicker, and more desperate. "Your school is over there, right? Which means the park should be over there... And before that, I was…"

Ruby closed her eyes, attempting to configure a visual map by the looks of it. "Where was I supposed to meet you again?"

"The convenience store."

"And where was that?"

"How should I know?" Weiss snapped, with her hands on her hips (and then she internally screamed at her own hypocrisy). Honestly, why was she so terrible at being nice?

"Um, maybe because you're the one who actually lives around here?" Ruby sounded highly hesitant and uncertain. There was a large portion of caution dosed into her voice, as if the young huntress was trying so very hard not to offend the other.

"I mean, I don't know for sure," Weiss corrected herself quickly, and as kindly as possible. "I just moved here. I don't exactly know my way around the hood just yet."

"Oh. Okay." Ruby scoffed, staring at the ground as she kicked a rogue pebble. "I'm so glad I have you helping me out then."

Weiss frowned, mulling over the girl's comment for a little while, before registering that, yes, the girl in fact was being sarcastic. It was a bit more caustic and bitter than what she had faced earlier to this day.

Was there a possibility that Ruby wasn't just mad at the world, but at her? At Weiss Schnee? Weiss furrowed her brows, trying to understand this new, promising, answer. The little huntress wasn't in any kind of physical distress. Ruby hadn't lashed out at her and she had provided a few sincere smiles here and there, when they were deemed appropriate.

Even if it were quite possible that Ruby Rose was upset with her, there was nothing she could do about this – Weiss insisted – if she hadn't done anything wrong in the first place. All Weiss had done was give the girl a temporary home, a warm shower, a clean set of towel and clothes, and half a dozen boxes of chocolate chip cookies. She could be responsible for the girl's future diabetic problem, but she could not be held responsible for any form of emotional pain.

"Ruby. Are you…?" She paused, just in time before she said something moronic again. "Oh, nevermind."

This was tiring and stupid, Weiss thought as she outwardly grumbled. For this exact reason, Weiss chose to refrain herself from caring from the very start. Whisking away this sentimental nonsense out of her mind, she hoped that it wasn't too late to return to her usual indifferent position.

Ruby didn't seem to mind that the question ended half-way; she trudged along silently and civilly. At one point, she even appeared a bit guilty and repentant. Weiss chose not to dwell too much on this. Instead, she stared down at the road in front of her, straining her neck until her eyes caught something peculiar in the distance.

"Wait a second," Weiss broke off as they came to another bend in the road. "Is that the place you're talking about?"

Distracted, Ruby glanced up from her feet and saw that her new companion had started to hasten her pace. Jogging to catch up to her, Ruby also careened around the corner, looking towards the direction Weiss was now shrewdly pointing at. The shop in question was clearly discernible: a one story building with bland gray walls and a distinguishable crooked roof.

"Mr. Ozpin's Mystical Magic Shop," Weiss read the sign out loud.

"That's it." Ruby nodded stiffly. Her voice was slightly hoarse, with dryness spreading across her tongue. Without a word of discussion, Ruby walked towards the door, treading her steps as if the asphalt were aligned with hidden explosives. Weiss stayed behind her, reviewing the shop displays with increased curiosity as they drew closer. It seemed to be the place of residence for all sorts of wizard nonsense. On top of the crystal balls, guidebooks to astrological predictions and more, there was a small white sign taped onto the windowsill.

"They're closed," Weiss pointed out. She peeked into the store, just to be sure. As suspected, the lights were off and there was nobody inside. "Maybe we should come back later?"

She exchanged a short glance with Ruby, who wore an undeterred expression, an expression that made Weiss feel even more uneasy. And then the huntress, deciding to disregard the rules completely, opened the doors anyway.

"Ruby! What are you doing?" Weiss hissed at her impetuous, stubborn choice of company. Despite this, Ruby turned a deaf ear to her verbal dissent. There were several seconds spent by Weiss, standing stupidly by the deserted doorway, cursing the owner for not making use of the existing lock. Eventually, Weiss – though feeling appalled over the idea of breaking and entering – felt that she had no other choice but to follow the girl inside.

The shop was dim and had a very dreary atmosphere. Shelves, appearing ancient enough to host an entire colony of spiders, and dusty crystal balls, covered in ages of neglect. Unconsciously, Weiss felt her body shift closer towards Ruby, half-nervous and half-disgusted by the store decor. The front desk remained unoccupied and continued to be inhabited for the following few minutes.

"Um, hello?" As Ruby called out around the room, Weiss peered around the counter and the back table. She found several fake wands and a barely used cash register, but no signs of life. Just as Weiss was on the verge of telling Ruby that they should go, an odd creaking noise reached their ears.

She froze as the squeaks grew louder across the old floorboard. Somebody was walking towards them, and fast.

The back door opened unexpectedly, causing Weiss to jump a few feet into the air. There was a tinkling sound of glasses hitting each other. With it, a thin man emerged. Carrying an assortment of grimy boxes, he silently laid them on the counter and began to sort through the piles. Moving quite busily, the man took his time to acknowledge their presence. His eyes darted towards them, then back at his dirty parcels as he cleared his throat.

"Didn't you see the sign outside?" He said with a harsh, grating voice. "It says we're closed."

Ruby and Weiss shared one anxious look.

"Um, we know," said Weiss quickly, deciding that she was far more capable of being diplomatic than Ruby. "We didn't mean to disturb you, really, but we were sort of in a hurry. Is there any chance we can speak with the…manager…here?"

"The shop keeper," Ruby cut in. "Is Professor Ozpin around?"

"Professor? _Professor_ Ozpin?" The man laughed unintentionally, wearing an expression of mixed amusement and disbelief. In response, Ruby fell silent, words reduced to a few uneasy shuffles on her feet.

"…Wait. I remember you." The man abruptly leaned forward, closely observing Ruby's face for a solid minute. "You're the girl who walked in here on the night of the storm."

Ruby appeared taken aback by the recognition. "You remember me?"

"It's not like we get a lot of visitors here. And you, with that little red cloak of yours. It's pretty hard to forget." The young man grunted, settling his rear on a nearby stool. Sitting down, he gazed over at them again, deciding to finally take this matter more seriously. "So? What can I do for you two?"

"Is Mr. Ozpin here or not?" Weiss asked instead, turning impatient.

The worker grimaced, crossing his arms as he sat uncomfortably in his seat. "Nope. He's taken a leave of absence from work."

"What?" Ruby looked alarmed by this news. "Why?"

"…Health reasons," the man answered vaguely.

"Well, do you know when he'll be back?" Ruby pressed. "This is really, really important."

"I don't know." Though his expression was still grim, and his voice grave, there was a mark of sympathy in his eyes at Ruby's desperate stare. "Look, I'm sorry, kid. He probably won't be back here for a while. But how about this?"

Digging through one of the desk drawers, he found a piece of spare parchment and an unused fountain pen. "I can pass on the message for you… Or I can give you a call once he's back?"

"That would be great." Weiss sighed, stepping forward to take the pad. "We would really appreciate it."

Promptly, she scribbled down her phone number, thanked (and apologized) to the man once more before running after Ruby, who had disappeared in between the courtesies. The girl hadn't gone far, in fact Ruby was no more than five steps away from the shop, sitting quietly on the curb, resting her disappointed chin on her knees.

Once she heard Weiss approach, she raised her head, tilting just enough to look up. "What can I do now?" Ruby asked, clutching the side of her head in pain. "This was my only lead."

"...I don't know," she replied hesitantly, breathing in a short intake of air. "But let's try and look on the bright side. Maybe he'll be back sooner than we expect. We can come visit him then."

Ruby gawped at Weiss, as if she had just proclaimed she wanted to pursue a career in septic services. Weiss squirmed underneath her stare, feeling equally strange. From the girl's expression, it was easy to conclude that Weiss Schnee, belonging to the world of Remnant, didn't usually have much of a positive outlook on life either. It was a laughable moment of irony, since prior to today Weiss Schnee of this world would also never have considered trying to be this hopeful over nothing.

Weiss realized that she had said those words of encouragement, only because they were the few things she had left to say. There was nothing else remaining in her power to do. Even if they were generic words of comfort and aggrandized optimism, Weiss had to express them.

"Right…" Thankfully, Ruby seemed to be forcing herself to reconsider. "Later. Yeah, I guess I can come back later..."

They remained there for a while longer, their silence only intensified by people strolling by, talking excitedly about their own affairs in fortunate ignorance of another world. They stared as they went, but Weiss – shockingly – realized that she cared less about what they thought than ever before. Sitting a few feet apart, Weiss watched as Ruby played with her cape, stroking it from one end to another. Weiss didn't disturb her, fully aware that the girl needed a moment to devise a new plan. Strictly speaking, Weiss was lost as well.

Weiss never once considered herself to be a masochist; she didn't enjoy having to go through all of this trouble for another human being. Nonetheless, whenever she was prepared to fall back, Ruby did something to her, something that made it impossible to forego this event and pretend like none of it ever happened. If that wasn't the work of magic, Weiss didn't know what was.

She was running on fumes, recalling the last time she had felt this useless. Her mind immediately flew back to her mother's funeral, along with her former wish to become extinct. Even now, no amount of comfort or consoling words served a soothing effect. So, if she didn't know how to help herself, then how on earth was she supposed to help Ruby?

It was difficult. But Weiss, she figured, at least had to try.

Yes, she wasn't successful at helping herself at all, but what if that could work to her advantage? Drawing from her own experience, she didn't know what would help Ruby overcome her depression, but at least she knew the big pitfalls to avoid. Weiss pondered for a long moment. What was the last thing on her mind since her mother's death?

Hunger. She was hardly hungry at all, even after starving herself over a duration of seven different meals.

And in reverse, what was the first thing that came to mind?

…The need to be alone. Two excellent points she could work with.

"Well… Since there's nothing else we can do tonight…" Weiss looked down at the ground thoughtfully. "Do you want to go get something to eat?"

It took a few seconds before she received a coherent response. Ruby looked straight at her, speculating. Weiss stared back, with a determinedly straight face, as if she were accepting this as a test of her sincerity, when in reality, Ruby was just trying to figure out if she was kidding or not.

"Um… What?"

"Let's get some food. What do you want to eat?" Weiss stopped, just long enough to give the girl a withering stare. "And don't you dare say cookies."

"I… Um… You're being serious," Ruby spluttered.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Weiss retorted. "And if you don't have any preferences, I'll be deciding on the menu."

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine…" Ruby answered mindlessly, bobbing her head along carefully. "I'm fine with anything."

"Good." Weiss was prepared to stand as she asked politely, "Shall we go then?"

"Wait. Before that…" Ruby hesitated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes? What is it?"

Ruby's eyes grew glazed, and her jaw tightened. "Uh, is there any place you can recommend for me to stay at?"

Weiss froze. That was not the question she was expecting to hear.

"I don't really know how things are done around here," Ruby stammered on. "Are there any cheap hostels or lodges in this neighborhood? I'm not sure if my lien will be worth anything in this world, but maybe I can barter…"

"Wait. What are you talking about?" Weiss asked hurriedly. "Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"I don't know exactly where... But I can't keep staying at your place, can I?" Ruby shrugged. "You can't hide me in your closet for forever, Weiss."

"I realize that," Weiss said, in what could be perceived as a wounded tone of voice. "But that doesn't mean I have to kick you out right this minute."

Ruby kept quiet, the gears turning slowly in her head. She faced down, seeming to be fascinated by the hem of her combat skirt. Ultimately, she asked the inevitable question. "Weiss?" She began, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"…Well, maybe since we're both stuck in this mess, I thought it'd be nice if we weren't at each other's throats all the time," Weiss rationalized with a cool shrug. "After all, I wasn't very fair to you the first time we met. Even though, in my defense, you really did come off as an insane person."

"But you don't have to be here with me," reasoned Ruby. And this comment, which was a hundred percent accurate and true, still earned the huntress a surprisingly hurt look from Weiss. Frantically, Ruby tried to rephrase her sentence. "I mean- You can leave, if you want. It's not like I don't want you here or anything! I'm just saying, you don't have to stick around for me. I won't blame you if you go."

"Oh, I don't know." Weiss had the feeling that Ruby may have been overreacting, but she couldn't quite stop herself from thinking that the girl had made a very logical point. "Haven't you ever wanted to help someone, for no reason at all?"

"Yeah…" The young huntress concurred almost immediately. "Of course. That's why I became a huntress."

"Exactly." Weiss's eyes snapped down, knowing that it was growing too difficult to say anything with a neutral visage. She felt embarrassed, from the beginning to the end of her speech. Weiss shook her head and hoped that the memory of this scene would dissolve from her mind somehow (what a terrible shame it didn't). Yet, no matter how corny it may have been, it caused a fuzzy feeling of warmth to sweep over her chest.

"So… Was that all?"

There was a small nod, and then the thin-lipped, tight smile returned. It was hard to tell if Ruby was being honest, until she saw the eyes – they, being far more expressive and defenseless than any other physical feature.

All right, Weiss admitted in secret. She had lied before. It was preposterous, but it seemed as though her body had found at least one incontestable reason. The sole reason was staring right at her, with those big bright silver eyes she could not deny.

* * *

In the morning, Weiss brushed her teeth, tied her hair, put on her uniform, and went downstairs as per usual.

She ate her breakfast in solitude, and in relative peace on days when her father graciously decided not to join her. The servants seldom bothered her, having learnt her preference for silence by now. They left their good intentions on the table, in the form of a nutritious plate of fruits and whole grain products, and then they promptly cleaned up after her once she left the dining hall.

Before leaving the estate, Weiss always returned to her bedroom, excusing herself to rinse her mouth or to pick up a misplaced textbook on her desk. Once she did, she locked the door behind her, took the spare food she smuggled off from the table, and called out the same name from yesterday and the day before that.

It took a moment before her words were gifted with a response. In a minute or two, the closet door opened on its own accord, like magic. From inside it, Ruby Rose peeked out her little head, wearing a pair of lent pajamas and untidy bed hair.

"Thanks," the girl mumbled sleepily, taking the apple and a piece of buttered baguette into her hands. Weiss watched as the girl chewed slowly and swallowed carefully, as if the sudden intake of food would upset her empty stomach.

It had been approximately six days and more since she first aimed a metal bat at Ruby's unsuspecting head. Since then, their relationship had taken quite an unexpected turn. Weiss had to remind herself each morning that it was completely normal to wake up to the sound of even breaths, or even sometimes the color of striking silver whenever Ruby had the audacity to sit, waiting by the foot of her bed, giving her a near heart attack before the day even properly began.

There was one incident where Weiss momentarily forgot that Ruby resided inside her closet. When the girl fell out of it during a night of restless sleep, Weiss nearly screamed loudly enough to wake up the whole neighborhood. Ruby found Weiss's reaction to be hilarious. Weiss didn't find it to be quite as funny.

Six days were an adequate amount of time to get to know someone. Normally, Weiss would never go through the trouble of doing such a thing. Yet being roommates proved to do the exact opposite. There were many different ways in which Ruby intrigued her. For instance, the girl did her utmost best to make her feel comfortable. This came in both small and large gestures. Insignificant actions included: waking her up in the morning whenever her alarm clock failed to do so, standing by the window when she heard a threatening sound, and scurrying into the wardrobe once she exited from the shower. Weiss didn't mind the girl's stay. In fact, she had moved past the awkward phase of their relationship. Now, she had grown immune to the strangeness of every one of their affairs. Returning home from school, and to be greeted by that big red cloak – it had become an odd but natural part of her daily routine.

In return, Weiss tried to help Ruby as much as she could, just like she had promised. Strictly speaking, even if she had the best intentions at heart, it didn't mean that determination alone would make the job any easier. Apart from studying, finishing her homework, and dealing with her father, she spent most of her first weekend on the internet, searching for ideas. With almost a full week approaching, Ruby appeared to grow tired as well.

Disregarding the growth of their relationship, tension still remained between the two. It wasn't too common, but Weiss seldom caught Ruby, staring at her through a mirror or a glass reflection. There was an enormous amount of longing and preserved hurt in those stares, Weiss could never bring herself to confidently answer to these calls. It was as if Ruby thought, that if she stared hard enough, somebody else would materialize before her. It bothered Weiss; though having sworn not to let Ruby Rose loose in her head, she had done just that, and was now dealing with the severe consequences.

She also knew that there was something else Ruby was unwilling to share with her. Weiss had tried to make the girl confess what it was, but it seemed as though no endless supply of smuggled cookies was ever going to change that fact.

"I have to go now," Weiss spoke quietly as Ruby finished the rest of her breakfast. "I'll see you later then."

"I'll be here," replied Ruby, with a bit of a weary grin.

And that farewell set the beginning of another uneventful day.

Weiss knew that Ruby was beginning to lose her will. The situation appeared lost from all directions, and the man from the magic shop still hadn't contacted her since their last visit. Once, on the fourth day or so, Weiss was digging through her wardrobe and even found a kitchen knife, poorly tied to a long wooden stick.

Horrified, Weiss had immediately confronted Ruby about it. And Ruby, puzzled by her freak-out, quickly explained that she was merely fashioning a temporary huntress weapon, in case of another Grimm attack. _Apparently,_ it was a common practice in the world of Remnant. Although she believed that an ambush was quite unlikely to occur, Weiss let her be, complying to anything that would keep the girl busy and with purpose. She was just glad that it wasn't a suicide attempt.

Amidst all of this, Weiss found it ridiculous that she still had to attend to her education. School remained as dreadful as ever, although she worked hard not to let any of her grades slip too far out of reach.

Similar to every student's harmless daydreams, Weiss wished to drop one of her courses (or all of them), since the accountable teacher did nothing productive in his class but boast and flirt. In her more educational and resourceful classes, Weiss saw little improvement in her own effort and performance. Mr. Oobleck's test proved to be harder than she expected. Even with the thorough review of her notes, Weiss doubted that the final results would be satisfactory to her father's high bar.

There were two upsides to her school life so far, the first being the sound of the dismissal bell.

Brrrrring!

The other, less thrilling but still promising news, was that Weiss had grown accustomed to the other students by now; the other students meaning Blake and Yang – the only two of her hundred other classmates who ever bothered to socialize with her.

As usual, Blake and Yang found her afterschool, as their lockers were on the same floor. The blonde tore after her, and the three of them somewhat enjoyed a nice walk from the school to the nearest bus station. Weiss, on days she refused her father's personal limo service, joined them with waning reluctance. These walks were rarely not awkward, since some of them involved the company of the real world Ruby Rose and almost always ended with more public display of affection than Weiss cared for.

It felt almost like cheating, to be chatting with Ruby number two. In all fairness, the Ruby Rose who attended her school should probably be named the first, since she was the one who actually belonged to her world. But talking to her blissfully happy and cheery form simply reminded Weiss of the older, far more saddened version she harbored back at home. The two characters were identical and yet so vastly different.

At least the goodbye kiss between Blake and Yang didn't make her feel worried or guilty in the inside. They provided her with a much more exasperating effect.

"He was totally checking you out."

"No, he wasn't."

"Yes, he was."

"No. He wasn't…"

For instance, she had to get used to the incessant bickering between the ostensibly, happy couple. Now, whenever Weiss was forced to stand witness to one of their arguments, she didn't feel the need to grab a gun and shoot herself in the head to end the misery. It wasn't that the pair had grown less annoying. Weiss simply became more self-restrained.

"Yes! He was!" Yang growled, thankfully deciding to end this childish yes-no-yes-no rally. "I swear to god, if he ever touches you again, I'm kicking his arrogant little ass into the ground."

"Yang, he was _not_ hitting on me." Blake leaned forward, hissing at her girlfriend with a highly irritated tone. "Will you let it go already?"

"Weiss." Yang's wild lilac orbs turned on her instead. "You don't think I'm being a little too jealous, do you?"

"A _little_ jealous?" Blake involuntarily coughed, her eyes still resembling daggers.

"If you don't mind," Weiss avoided both of their gazes, "I'd like to stay out of this, please."

"Aw, come on." Yang whined, wearing a very petulant frown on her lips. "You're always on Blake's side."

"I'm on nobody's side."

The two fought like an old married couple. Weiss tuned them out for the time being, aware of the fact that even without her interference, Blake and Yang were capable of moving on with their argument. It wouldn't last too long. She predicted that the couple would continue for another minute or so, and then they would sooner or later settle upon a mutual agreement.

"So… Can we just agree to disagree?" Blake suggested after a deep sigh.

"Fine." Yang mirrored the gesture. "Deal."

Then, they would somehow make up and carry on with the conversation as if nothing happened. Like how they did so now. As a witness, Weiss merely scoffed.

"So, Weiss?" Yang asked, her arms around Blake's shoulder in truce. "Are you coming to the movies with us? We've got an extra ticket to that new sci-fi movie premiere."

"Tell me, why am I invited to this thing again?" Weiss wondered, sounding incredibly skeptical over the proposed plan for tonight. "I don't think I want to spend the rest of my afternoon being the third wheel."

"You won't be!" Yang assured her quickly. "It's not like it'll be just the three of us. Ruby and Penny will be there too."

"Oh, then that changes things," said Weiss sarcastically, simply counting one more person she would be uncomfortable being around. "But unfortunately, I already have dinner plans, so... I would cancel that last ticket if I were you."

"Aw, really?" Yang whined. "Can't you get out of it?"

"It's…a family obligation. I'm afraid I have no choice," she explained tersely, eager to switch topics. "By the way, can you tell me where your sister is? I've been looking for her since the bell rang. I thought she'd be going home with you like usual."

"Aw, and why were you looking for Ruby?" Yang winked as she asked.

"Yang, please." Weiss decided long ago not to encourage this sort of behavior from the blonde. "I just wanted to return her umbrella."

The duo stopped walking for a moment, waiting for Weiss who had fallen behind. Standing on the sidewalk, she dug inside her shoulder bag, attempting to find what she had borrowed.

"I thought she lent that to you last week," Blake chimed in. "You still haven't given it back to her?"

"I- I've been rather busy," replied Weiss as she played with the umbrella her hands. The long story didn't seem necessary, where in which the umbrella broke on the night of the storm and she had to search several different stores in order to find an exact replacement. "Can you just tell me where she is?"

"Well, _un_ -fortunately for you, Ruby wasn't here today," Yang teased. "She caught a pretty nasty cold, so our dad made sure she stayed home."

"She's sick…but she's planning on going to the movies with you?"

"She's willing to take the risk."

"Oh." Weiss paused, feeling foolish to have been concerned. "Then can you give this to her?"

"No, no. I can't do that." Shaking her head, Yang declined almost immediately. "You should give it back to her in person."

"It's an umbrella, not a bomb," insisted Weiss, angrily. "And how many times must I tell you? I am _not_ interested in your little sister."

"She knows that. She just likes to torture people for no apparent reason." Blake laughed softly as she subtly pushed the blonde out of the way. "I can pass it onto her, if you want?"

"That would be fantastic." Weiss let out a huge breath of relief. "I just…"

Her hand froze in mid-transaction, pale blue eyes catching something awry in the distance. The umbrella remained in Weiss's outstretched hand, and Blake – who had been prepared to take it from her – frowned.

"What?" Blake began to tilt her head around. "What is it?"

"NO!" Weiss shouted, with both arms raised, bursting out in unexpected strength and horror. "Don't look!"

Blake jolted upwards, her eyes widening and her neck freezing in shocked obedience. Also wearing a look of incomprehension, Yang gaped at Weiss. "And… Why not?"

"Um… It's- There's a pervert behind us!"

"What?!" This, evidently, was the wrong thing to say. Although Blake was relatively calm and sane, Yang actively spun around in alert, both her hands rolling into potent fists. The blonde whipped her head furiously, checking every corner and every wall from where they stood. When she couldn't find anything interesting, she returned her gaze to Weiss, wearing a very befuddled expression. "What are you talking about? There's nobody here."

"Oh, I must have…imagined it then." Weiss cringed at her own choice of words. She really needed to work on improving her lies. "Actually, I just realized, I have to be somewhere…else. I hope your sister gets better soon, um, good bye!"

"Wait- What?"

Blake stood by dumbly, with her right hand still empty. "What about the umbrella?"

Weiss ran towards the opposite direction from the bus stop, hiding and lingering behind a brick wall until she heard the familiar voices of her classmates fade away in alike confusion. After barely calming her breaths, Weiss felt her blood pressure rise once again, catching that familiar hue of bright red. There was a rapid flurry of rose petals, and then a garbage can across the street made a low thumping sound, moaning slightly before turning completely still.

Weiss walked towards it, and approached the figure hiding behind the large waste bin.

"Ruby."

There was a short pause, a sharp intake of breath, and then the girl popped back up, standing into full view. Her voice, edgy, and her red cape fluttering behind her. "Hey, Weiss!"

"...Hey?" It was too much of a casual hello. Suspicious, and slightly angry, Weiss narrowed her eyes in response. "Ruby, what on earth are you doing here?"

"Uh… Getting some fresh air?" The girl laughed nervously. "Sorry, I didn't mean to come this far. I really wasn't trying to break your number one rule or anything, but it was getting too stuffy in your room and I thought it'd be nice to go exploring and all-"

"Ruby," she had spoken so quietly that she barely heard herself over Ruby's rambling. Now they were both staring at each other and Weiss noticed a glimmer of panic cross Ruby's eyes. It wasn't a good sign at all. "Did you see who I was talking to?"

"Uh, yeah." Ruby nodded twice, both incredibly rigid and forced. "Duh."

"Was she…" There was something here that Weiss needed to clear up, even if she were travelling into very dangerous territories. This was the time to broach her subject. Swallowing once, she tried again with increased apprehension. "Do you happen to know her from somewhere?"

"Nope!" Ruby gave out a broad smile, a smile that seemed to cost her a fortune of energy and effort.

"…Neither of them?"

"Not at all."

Ruby was still smiling cheerily at her. Weiss stared at her profile, at the falseness written on every part of it. They both knew that this secret had been overlooked for too long.

"You're lying," Weiss noted sharply, clearly spotting a losing battle.

"You know who she is, don't you?" She persevered with a softer tone. "Yang is your older sister, isn't she? ...Is that why you're here? Did you want to see her?"

Ruby shivered at that.

An uncomfortable silence fell in between the pair that Ruby appeared to have no intention of breaking. Talking would only lead to discussion and the only subjects left for debate were the ones the girl was trying to avoid. But Weiss did not share the same sentiment.

"Ruby, it's okay. Just talk to me," Weiss urged in a clipped voice. "Tell me what happened between the two of you."

"Nothing happened…" The girl said feebly, blinking more than strictly necessary.

"You promised that you would tell me if something was wrong," Weiss stated, giving Ruby a significant look. "I don't understand why this is such a big deal."

"Well, me neither!" Ruby glared at her defiantly for a few seconds. "Gosh, you're just like Jaune. Why can't you guys take a hint? I don't want to talk about this! Not with him and definitely not with you!"

Neither of them spoke. Neither of them looked away. Weiss felt suddenly deflated. It was unrelated to anything that had ever happened to her, but it was distinct, the pain was real and present.

"What do you mean by, _definitely_ not with me?" Weiss finally whispered.

"...Just forget it, Weiss," Ruby muttered. "It doesn't matter."

* * *

Three sullen figures seated themselves at an empty table. As the waiter walked off, with their evening courses memorized, two of them chattered in mutual peace while the youngest, though left out, felt too apathetic to care.

"How is work?" Winter Schnee asked, keeping her voice diplomatic and firm.

"Business has never been better." Despite the good news, Mr. Schnee looked rather unexcited. "Just yesterday, I was able to negotiate plans with Mr. Merlot and acquire his company. Under our name, he'll be able to expand his industry as much as he wants."

Winter nodded dutifully in response. "Does that mean he'll be dropping the lawsuits?"

"Yes." Mr. Schnee grunted. "That was part of the deal."

"That's good to hear." There was a murmur of agreement and the sound of utensils scraping against a plate.

Surely, not all conversations in between the Schnee family had to be this mind-numbingly dull. Weiss had tuned out her sister and her father a long time ago. Lucrative business success meant as little to her as it did to a town sewage rat, especially since she had a much more dire point to mull over.

Just two hours ago, she had undergone her first fight with Ruby. Technically, she could hardly call it a fight. Weiss had pushed a matter she apparently shouldn't have tested and Ruby had merely stormed off without a word. But a silent dispute made Weiss feel just as bad as she would feel if she had gone through a typical shouting match.

After the argument hadn't been settled, Ruby did not follow her home. Ruby was not there, hiding in her closet as Weiss changed out of her uniform into her formal dress attire. Neither did Ruby greet her from the third story window as she left to begrudgingly accept her older sister's dinner invitation.

Weiss supposed that this was good practice, for the day that would soon come when the girl had to leave, but nothing else could make her feel more terrible and nauseous than the thought of Ruby Rose sulking somewhere in the city, alone and scared.

"And what about you, Weiss?"

She blinked twice, attempting not to look too surprised. Weiss exercised her face muscles carefully, trying to seem like she knew exactly what Winter was talking about at the moment. It was a weak effort, as both her father and her older sister were staring at her, expecting some form of a cogent reply. With a short sigh, Weiss glanced up from her platter of food, meeting her sister's eyes for the second time since entering the restaurant. "Uh… I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question?"

"How is your new school?" Winter asked again, setting down her knife and fork as she looked across the table.

"It's fine."

"Are the teachers treating you nicely?"

"Yes. They're all very generous."

"And are you doing well?"

"My grades are fine."

"No. I mean, have you made any new friends?" Winter asked, leaning forward to meet her eyes. It was a pushy way of asking how she felt, but Winter seemed determined to drag an actual answer out of her. "Have you been adjusting properly?

"Um..." Weiss hesitated, her eyebrows knitting in concentration. "Well…"

She glanced around the fancy table. At first at her father and then at her sister, who was beginning to wear a look of deep pity.

"There's Ruby," she cut in, dying to wipe that expression off from her sister's face and that one worn by her father, lacking a certain level of sensible interest or concern.

"Ruby who?"

"Ruby Rose. She goes to my school." There was no way to take back what she said. Chewing silently on her lips, Weiss decided to pull through with the story, which was only partially true. Her father, in the meantime, also put down his fork, dabbing his chin with a napkin before looking sternly over at Weiss.

"So… Just that one friend?" Her father didn't appear to be ridiculing her, but Weiss still felt that it was an incredibly stupid and insensitive comment.

"There's also her sister, Yang," she claimed hotly. "And Blake, her... Her close friend."

"...I see." Mr. Schnee nodded curtly. "And are they treating you nicely?"

"Yes."

"Are they all good students?"

"...Sure."

"Good," he concluded, picking up his utensils again without a second thought. "It's important to socialize, even at a young age. As long as it doesn't interfere with your studies."

"Right." Weiss gulped, wondering if the man would be equally approving of her social life after learning how dismally she had done on her last history exam.

"You were late again this evening." Her father went on, straightforward as he sliced into the right side of his cooked meat. "Was it because you were spending time with these new friends of yours?"

"Um, maybe." She hesitated. "But why would you care?"

He stopped carving at once, to Weiss's utter horror. The man chose to stare, instead, disapprovingly at his youngest daughter, who couldn't keep her mouth shut to save her life.

"I mean... Why would you care who I spend my time with?" The correction hardly made a difference.

His eyebrows descended angrily. For a short second, Weiss wondered if he would ask her to apologize, or even leave the table. Instead, his mustache trembled for a moment, and then after a fleeting expression of painful acceptance, the man glanced away. Thankfully, the merry atmosphere was quickly disturbed by a low buzzing sound.

"If you'll excuse me," he said harshly, pulling out a ringing cell from his coat pocket. "I have to take this call."

Once he left the table, Winter passed a concerned eye over to her younger sister. "Are you that determined to ruin the rest of our evening together?"

"Excuse me?" Weiss spun around, highly affronted.

"Father is trying to make things right," her sister said again, in the same calm and detached manner. "There's no need to be so harsh on him."

"Harsh?" Weiss repeated the word with a heavy tone of disbelief. " _I'm_ being harsh on _him_?"

Putting hands to her temple, Winter closed her eyes, looking both tired and irritated. "Weiss, please. I am not asking for you to understand him. I'm only asking for you to not start any meaningless fights."

Though still seething, Weiss at least convinced herself to release the steak knife in her hands.

"What happened is in the past. We're your family now and we're just trying to do what is best for you," echoed Winter, though her tone wasn't as soulless as before. It was hardly a change in demeanor, certainly not enough to convince Weiss to change her entire opinion regarding the matter. Her sister's voice did though, as usual, hold a sense of strong reason that even she could not oppose.

Weiss decided to drop it, allowing her frustration to live on discreetly and in ill silence. She took a slice of cooked meat from the plate and started nibbling around its edges. It was obviously delicious, but it did little to make her feel good. It took a few minutes, of swallowing and a few failed conversation starters on Winter's part, before the oldest Schnee returned back to the sullen table.

"That was my secretary, calling to inform me of her resignation." Mr. Schnee started, unbuttoning his suit jacket before sitting back down in his spot. "It's a little sudden, of course, but there's nothing I can do to convince her to stay."

"Why would she resign?" Winter pondered into her glass of white wine. "Did she have a problem with her salary?"

"No, it wasn't the company. It's her husband." There was a slight dramatic pause. "Apparently he's gone missing."

Weiss instantly stopped chewing, not entirely sure if her father was truly indifferent or if he were simply trying to sound objective. Growing evermore stern and serious, Winter slowly set down her drink, confronting this piece of news with sharpened interest. "Has she notified the police?"

Despite the sudden interesting turn in topic, from boring business transactions to potential murder, Weiss felt even more uncomfortable as her eyes paced back and forth between her father - the tin-man - and her sister, whom she often forgot was an esteemed officer of justice.

"I haven't the faintest idea," he replied gruffly. "The woman was half-hysterical. She hardly said anything over the phone."

"Well, this is rather unnerving." Winter narrowed her eyes, assuming the nature of somebody who knew more about this than one should. "We've actually received several unrelated reports this week, most of them involving the exact same issue."

"That isn't too uncommon, is it?" Her father returned blankly. "In this country, more than thousands of people are missing at any given time."

"Yes, that is true," concurred Winter in a low voice. "But usually these incidents aren't so heavily concentrated in one area. We're beginning to think that these cases are somehow related."

In response, Mr. Schnee shook his head with a slow movement, in half-disgust. "There's not a single peaceful moment in this city. Criminals running free everywhere. The law's gone too soft on them."

"We've also been receiving a series of animal complaints and large destruction of personal property," Winter added on with a small sigh. "Recently, we even found a trail of animal tracks left behind on site."

"A black bear?"

"A hound, actually. Yet the footprints were too big to be anything local. Other than a few claw marks though, there weren't any DNA samples left behind for conclusive testing." Winter grimaced. "Once the media gets a hold of this story, the whole city will be buzzing with gossip."

"Hmph." After listening, the man simply coughed into his handkerchief. "Doesn't the police have anything better to do than deal with putting down a wild animal? If you had just gotten a degree in business and taken a job at my company like I offered, you wouldn't be working with this sort of nonsense."

"Perhaps." Weiss found it surprising, and almost admirable, that Winter kept a straight face at this last withering comment. Her eldest sister stated back at him quite placidly, not appearing to have been insulted at all by her father's clear disapproval. "But if there is an animal disrupting the lives of civilians, then it _is_ the police's job to put an end to it."

The end of Mr. Schnee's mustache twitched for a moment, but the man remained fairly passive as well. Feeling a bit tense, Weiss decided to contribute to the conversation on her sister's behalf.

"So?" She turned to Winter. "Has anybody actually seen the dog?"

"There's only been one witness so far. Unfortunately, the man hasn't been much of a help. He claims that he was chased by some sort of a gigantic werewolf," drawled Winter, looking heavily unconcerned with the latter half of her story, "which I'm sure was a simple product of fear more than anything else."

"...A werewolf?" Weiss paused, not sure why she was pursuing this topic to begin with. But instinctively, her body knew something that her mind had yet thought to register. "What happened to that man? Is he hurt?"

"Hardly." Winter shrugged. "He tripped over his own leg and fell down a flight of stairs. He's in the hospital with a few broken bones, but nothing life-threatening."

"What else did he say?" Weiss asked evenly, trying not to look freaked. "About the wolf, I mean?"

"Nothing believable," stated Winter, apparently deciding to humor her sister for a while longer. "The man claimed that the beast could stand on its hind legs. And it moved too quickly for it to make sound."

"Anything else?"

Frowning, Winter stopped to think back to the report she had read about the delusional man. Her memory disappointing Weiss until one last, definitive, piece of clue wiggled out of the back of her mind. "He also mentioned a shadow," her sister said, "a shadow with large red eyes."

Red.

The blood rushed from her head and left Weiss dizzy. Shock pinned her against the seat for one long frightful second. The audio around her strangely drowned. She heard her father murmur something about hallucinate drugs, and the possibility of that being a keystone in Winter's case, until nothing more could be heard but the subtle thumping and whooshing of her own bloodstream.

"The missing people," Weiss swallowed, "Do you... Do you think that the wolf might be responsible somehow?"

There was a short pause, after which Winter, and even their father, joined in on a short burst of ridiculing mirth.

"Honestly, Weiss. I believe that it is highly unlikely for the two cases to be related," Winter stated, appearing more amused than she had been all evening. "If there is a creature large enough to attack a grown man, then the police would have seen one by now."

Winter revisited her cup of wine, not noticing how odd her little sister had been reacting. Weiss squeezed her hands together, feeling a tiny trickle of sweat run across her palm.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Weiss, excusing herself as she slid out of her chair. "I have to go to the bathroom."

She made a beeline to the darkest corner of the restaurant, hiding and lingering in the black hallway situated in front of the toilet signs.

If there _was_ a creature large enough to attack a grown man, then the police would have seen one by now. Yes, she didn't doubt Winter's words. Neither did she doubt her sister's tenacity and ability to catch any criminal she wanted to. Weiss was sure that all Schnees took their career more seriously than their personal lives.

But would the same statement of certainty stand, even if what the Metropolitan Police were facing with was unlike anything they have ever seen before?

Perversely, Weiss bit her tongue against the flooding cascade of questions. Yes, her reasoning was probably flawed by exhaustion. After a week worth of supernatural events, Weiss was beginning to overthink everything, relating all things unnatural and mysterious to be caused by unexplained mystical forces. This was a maddening side-effect, and she had to cease immediately before growing too paranoid.

But after one more troublesome session of pondering, and the piercing memory of pupil-less crimson eyes returning to her mind, Weiss knew better than to pass this on as a mere coincidence.

 _._

 _"The creature that attacked us tonight," Weiss began carefully. "Was that supposed to be a Grimm?"_

 _"Yeah, that was a Creep, which is a type of Grimm. There's a lot more of them too." Wringing her hands together, Ruby tangled her fingers into a tight knot. "A lot more."_

.

There was only one thing she can do.

She had to find Ruby.

Inconspicuously, Weiss slipped out of the bathroom, waltzing across the dining room floor, as far away from her father's table as possible before tearing out the thick glass entrance. Without hesitation, she called for a cab. On the way of the drive, Weiss fished out her phone and informed Winter of her untimely escape, claiming that one of the scallops she ate had been bad. After a second, Winter texted her back with a message of grievance and a concerned offer to take her to the hospital. Weiss knew that she was still angry at herself and her supposed family, but she couldn't help but take this gesture as a positive sign of reconciliation, at least with her older sister. After all, she had hardly expected Winter to care enough to ask.

It was less than a five minute drive. The walk she had previously taken to the restaurant felt even shorter than this latter trip. Weiss paid the man his fare and then quickly bolted out the door. From outside, her father's mansion seemed fine, the same as it had always been. Weiss only hoped that she would find the same little red figure she had grown so accustomed to seeing for all this time.

Weiss barged through the front door. She ignored the butler's wishes for her not to run inside the halls. She rushed up the stairs, not knowing whether or not she would be relieved or disappointed in the end.

Please be there. Please be there. Please be there.

Panting, Weiss reached the third floor. She darted towards her room, flung the door open, and took in her first breath of air.

"Weiss?"

Ruby was sitting on the windowsill, in a position of departure. The girl, upon seeing Weiss, looked ready to jump out the window, having already packed and changed into her usual battle clothes. But something must have been keeping the huntress at bay. Weiss knew that with the girl's semblance, Ruby could have easily escaped from her if she wanted to. But Ruby stayed motionless, only flinching ever-so-slightly as Weiss sped up towards her and the opened window.

Wind blew furiously into the room, bringing in an unwelcoming evening chill.

"I wasn't- I wasn't going to just leave," Ruby stammered, eyes widening with sudden guilt. "I was going to wait. You know... To say goodbye."

Deep down, Weiss wished she could say that this was the first-most terrifying thing she had heard this evening.

"Ruby," Weiss started quietly. "I understand that you're upset and I know that we're not the most articulate people out there to talk about our feelings and whatnot… And I know I can't ask you to stay and I'm not going to be angry at you once you do, eventually, leave."

Because that's inevitable. That last word left her in a bitter state of being.

"But this isn't about that, all right?" Weiss couldn't tell if she was telling this to Ruby, or to herself. "This is something important. I need to ask you something very important, okay? And I need you to answer me with the truth."

She waited for Ruby to nod before moving on. "The Grimm monsters we talked about before… Do they come in many different forms?"

Ruby blinked at her, confused, clearly not having suspected that this would be Weiss's current topic of interest.

"…Yeah, like I told you before." Ruby paused before continuing slowly. "There's a lot more of them."

This wasn't news, but she still shivered.

"And what do they usually look like?" Weiss walked back and forth across her room, unable to stay still for too long. "Can you give me a few examples?"

"…Well, there's the Creep. That's the one we fought. They're small and ugly, and they only have two legs… There's the Ursai. They're all large, dark, and bear-like," described Ruby in vague detail. "There's the… Nevermore. That's like a big old bird. Then there's the Death Stalker, which is a huge scorpion with a really thick shell and a poisonous stinger at the end of its tail."

Vigorously, Weiss processed the information in her brain.

"So they all resemble living creatures of some sort… Bears, ravens, scorpions…" relayed Weiss breathlessly. Coming to a sudden halt, she stared over at Ruby, wetting her lips nervously. "…And wolves?"

Ruby blearily opened her eyes, watching Weiss without any perceivable movement. Eventually, the huntress contributed a slow nod.

"And wolves."


	41. I Miss Our Little Talks (Part 8)

"I think we may have a slight problem," confessed Weiss, trying hard not to encourage any unnecessary level of panic.

It didn't help much as Ruby was already staring at her like she had grown two heads. "Weiss, what's going on?"

"It's, um, it's just that…" She sucked in a breath of air. "There might be a small possibility that somewhere in this city... There's another Grimm on the loose."

"...What?" There was a short, poor imitation of a chuckle. Ruby's eyes continued to bore into her, as if she were waiting patiently for the punch line. "Weiss, come on. Tell me you're kidding."

To think that Weiss could be joking at all was a laughable idea. It didn't take very long for the young huntress to realize this. Weiss watched in fear as Ruby's face went through a number of changes: at first, surprise, and then shock, and then a look of unprecedented horror. She had put two and two together.

"A Beowolf? Are you saying that a Beowolf followed me out here?" There was a loud thump as Ruby's feet reached the floor, the girl having hopped off the window in a flicker of alarm. "How do you know? Did you see one? Did it attack you? Were you hurt?"

Worried hands took hold of her across the shoulders, pinning Weiss down an inch into the ground.

"No, I'm fine!" She wiggled her way out of Ruby's grip. "I heard from my sister, she works for the police. She said that there's been a number of animal sightings, destruction of property and things... I don't know, but I just had a feeling it might be relevant and-"

She stopped herself, words being blotted out of her mind, similar to ink drops falling on a sheet of paper. Ruby's skin had whitened, much like a vacuum would suction the color out of her cheeks.

"Though I'm not too sure!" Her mouth unconsciously slipped out. This wasn't the reaction Weiss had been expecting. If there were a gigantic monster roaming around somewhere in the city, she would have thought that Ruby would have been happy to take care of the problem. She had been, after all, restless and forlorn for the past couple of days. This would prove to be a healthy distraction for the huntress.

Weiss couldn't believe that just a minute ago, she had judged this to be the brightest idea she had produced all evening. Even the action of letting Ruby go seemed to be a smarter decision than what she had currently done. The slack-jawed, recently slapped expression on Ruby's face was more than revealing.

"...Winter said... The police...?" Weiss heard a few dark mutters here and there as the girl moved. Finally, once Ruby did stop pacing, her steely silver stare loomed across the room, assaulting her in a wave of indiscernible calmness. "Did she mention any victims?"

"...No."

"Weiss," Ruby stopped to glare, "I can tell when you're lying."

"She didn't say anything like that, I promise," Weiss hastened to add. "Although she did, um, mention that a few people have gone missing..."

There was a long stretch of silence. Ruby had either frozen still in shock or had somehow managed to magically turn herself into a marble statue. Weiss was too afraid to check if it was the one or the other, until there was an unexpected explosion of wind.

Rose petals scattered all across the room as Ruby dove forward. Weiss flinched, moving out of the way as her roommate charged, not at her, but at the closed doors of her bedroom wardrobe. The closet was forcibly flung open, and the girl began to dig. It took a few seconds for Weiss to process what this meant.

"Um…" Weiss frowned, lifting a brow in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Those people aren't just missing," said Ruby tersely, making the insinuation quite obvious.

An invisible hand drifted above her chest and ensnared itself around Weiss's neck. She choked for a moment, feeling a sudden metal anvil drop inside her stomach. It tightened with more nerves. This was a possible theory, something Weiss had thought of, but she had prayed in vain hope that it wasn't true. In fact, partly the reason for informing Ruby of this news was to be reassured on how absurd the idea was. Yet reality proved to be much more cruel. "Ruby, I'm sure that's not true…"

"Of course it is!" The girl snapped back angrily, still thunderously rummaging through Weiss's closet. Clothes flew everywhere as a result, making it appear as if her room had been raided by a thief. "And it's my fault! It's because of me that there's a Beowolf out there!"

"It's just conjecture! It's very possible that the man who claimed to have seen the beast was simply delusional or- or under a heavy influence of drugs!" Weiss rushed to make an excuse, wishing that she could go back in time and start this conversation again. "Please, let's not jump to drastic conclusions."

"Then why are you sharing this with me?" Spinning around, Ruby sounded as though she was forcing herself to stay composed. "Weiss, you're telling me this because you know that there's even the tiniest possibility of a dangerous creature roaming out there, attacking innocent people during the night. Isn't that true?"

Weiss pressed her lips together, staring down at her shoes. There was no way to deny that accusation.

"Then I have to stop it," Ruby repeated, still in that same obtuse attitude, with her voice a little hollow. "I won't let anyone else get hurt anymore."

So, they had arrived at the worst possible deduction. Weiss felt slightly numb, but no more afraid than she had been before she left the restaurant.

"You're right." Weiss stepped forward, prepared to lay a soothing hand on the huntress's shoulder. "We need to track it down."

But a cold touch slapped her aside. Startled, Weiss recoiled from the brutish rejection.

"No." Ruby shook her head rather vigorously. "You stay here. If there _is_ a Beowolf out there, then I'm going to find it myself. I'm glad that I met you Weiss, and I really appreciate everything that you did for me, but we have to part ways now. This is my responsibility, not yours."

"You can't do this by yourself," said Weiss, half-yelling. "You said so yourself, on the day we first met, that you don't even have a proper weapon with you- and don't you dare point that umbrella at me, that's hardly anything like Crescent Rose from what I've heard!"

"I managed to beat a Creep with just this," argued Ruby, holding up the battered umbrella, which had been relocated deep into the corners of her closet. "I can do worse to a Beowolf."

"What if you get hurt and nobody's around to help you? What happens then? Don't you understand how-" Weiss stopped as she weighed the chances. "How upsetting that would be for me?"

"I don't know, Weiss." Ruby avoided her eyes, turning her back as she faced the empty window. "Then I'll be out of your hair and you can move on with your life."

"No, I won't!" A rising rumble of disagreement spurred her on. "Listen, Ruby Rose, I took you in out of concern, not out of pity or as a pathetic attempt at human altruism!"

The girl, who still avoided her gaze, appeared genuinely startled by her words. "I've been smuggling cookies for you all week, of course I care about you, Ruby," snapped Weiss. "Don't be thick. I promised that I would help you, and I'm with you until the end."

"Well, maybe I just don't want you following me around all the time," the girl pressed, obstinately looking at the opposite side of the room.

Perhaps Ruby had made it her own little mission to screw every sort of discourse out of her. Weiss nearly snarled out her next words. "And why not?"

"Because you-" Ruby didn't speak for a minute; then she shouted in an altered tone. "You distract me!"

If it had been any other situation, or if it had been uttered in any other manner possible, then by all means Weiss would have been flattered to be called somebody's greatest distraction. Yet in the deepest regions of her brain, she knew that this comment wasn't meant to be complimentary.

"What are you trying to say?"

Ruby visibly slowed, her entire body losing its untraceable, fast-paced energy. Evidently, the girl had kept this sentiment bottled up for far too long. And with such a predicament staring at them right in the face, the huntress had allowed her lips to disclose the secret she had obviously meant to take with her to the grave. It was a tumultuous moment, as Ruby's face cringed, expressive of all sorts of emotions: confusion, anger, frustration, but most of all - grief.

"Weiss, I lied to you before," began Ruby, sounding as if her mouth were filled with a particularly viscous form of liquid. "I saw you talking to Blake, that time when we went to the public library."

The little huntress didn't say a word after that, but there was such a thing as a silent accusation.

"Oh." The fog cleared. "So... So you do know who she is."

"I thought you had that figured out already." It was a dull point, like Ruby had been expecting it all along.

"Well, I had no way of confirming anything," reasoned Weiss, taking this opportunity to sit down and calmly think. "The only one I was sure about was…"

"Yang?" Ruby finished for her, looking thoroughly downcast.

"Yes, Yang."

As if promised, the two fell silent. Ruby's breathing was a little quickened, but she repressed all other signs of distress.

"Ruby," Weiss decided to offer. "Did you want to hear more about them?"

It had been clear to her, that Ruby missed those who belonged to her real universe. And no matter how much Weiss knew that the people she knew - including herself - would be mere replicas of their other world forms, it was still worth the effort to try.

There was no nod, no form of verbal consent. Yet Weiss took the silence as Ruby's confession.

"Your sister is- Yang is... She's a very interesting person to be around, to be honest. Technically speaking, she is quite loud and talkative, and she can be seldom abrasive…"

Weiss struggled to deliver the description of her classmates, in the most appealing but truthful way possible. "Blake is nothing like her partner. She's usually calm and quiet, though she does have a bit of a dark sense of humor… I'm still not entirely sure how the two became friends."

"Yeah, it's a mystery." Ruby laughed a bit, as if this was a prevailing truth in her own world as well. It was fleeting though; the momentary animation quickly died out of her face. Weiss twiddled with her thumbs, shrinking into the mattress as she deliberated about this with herself. What else would anyone say or do in a situation such as this?

She could attempt to lift the mood, something (or someone) in the back of her mind advised her. For some reason, the voice of the thought sounded eerily close to Yang Xiao Long.

"Blake's still dating your sister, you know," Weiss ventured. "If that helps."

There was a long pause, a pause in which Weiss instantly regretted what she said, realizing how wildly inappropriate that remark had been during a mood so serious. She swore inwardly, cursing herself for having allocated too much of her time to the boisterous blonde.

"…Sorry, what?" Ruby finally asked, lifting her chin to stare at her in slight bewilderment.

"She's dating your sister, Yang," said Weiss, more slowly than before as she realized what the problem was. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew! It seems like they've been together for quite a while. They insist that it's a secret but they aren't very discreet about it…"

"You're telling me that Blake is… _Blake Belladonna_ is dating my- Wow." Ruby let her mouth drop open, her shoulders sagging and slouching in a humorous manner. "You're joking."

"I'm assuming they aren't exactly together in your world?"

"No! No, I mean... No, I don't think so?" Ruby let out a short snort, sounding strangely unsure herself. "I mean, they sure spent a lot of time together, but that's true of any partners! Even Weiss and I, we were almost inseparable for most of our..."

It hadn't been a humiliating announcement at all, but for a bit, Ruby went scarlet. Weiss amused herself, watching the young huntress as she decided to feign a single cough, undoubtedly inexperienced in this area of social interactions.

"What about me?" Ruby asked in turn, a poor attempt at a change in conversation. "What am I like in this world?"

"I would have to say that you are no different from the way you are now." Weiss smirked, believing this to be true on several, less moodier, occasions. "You are quite chatty, and nosy as usual. Nice, but perhaps a tad more perceptive than for your own good."

Not to mention the fact that… She's a lot happier.

A lot happier. Weiss knew better than to be vocal about this last claim. They stayed, dead to the outer world as nothing but the sound of motionless breathing passed through the wooden creaks.

"Ruby," Weiss said in a would-be authoritative tone. "I believe it's your turn."

Her silver eyes came back slowly at last, reverting back to the pained face from which it had wandered; Ruby joined her, sitting quietly next to her on the bed, lost in dismay as she waited to break the silence. "What do you want to know?" she finally asked.

"I want you to tell me what's been bothering you," Weiss reiterated, "I want the whole story."

Without answering, without the slightest change in demeanor, Ruby gave her a small nod.

"Weiss, ever since I was little I always wanted to be a huntress. My sister used to read to me every night. There were stories about these great hunters and huntresses, fighting monsters, help saving the world... It was the only way I ever wanted to live," she explained, the sinking tone returning. "I just- I was too naive, you know. I never even stopped once to consider...what being a huntress would actually be like."

"Blake and Yang were on my team at Beacon Academy. We were all paired up with a partner, and two pairs formed a team. We lived together in the dorms, we spent time together training, studying, and just…having fun," told Ruby in a subdued voice, after some moments of gathering thoughts.

"Yang _is_ the best sister in the world. Ever since we were little, she always took care of me and looked out for me. I remember being so happy that we were going to be attending Beacon together. This is embarrassing to admit but, I was so scared of being separated from her for two years." A few minutes more and words began to drop, one by one decreasing in volume, lost in a vacant undertone. "I haven't seen her for over a month now. And I don't know... I don't know what I'm supposed to say to her when I do see her."

"...What do you mean?"

"She wouldn't talk to me. She refused to talk to anybody, not me, not Dad," murmured Ruby, with a mixture of sadness and frustration. "She was... She was _hurt_. But we had to move on, we had to figure out what happened! There was nothing else I could do for her in Patch. And so, I left her behind... I didn't even tell her where I was going- I just..."

Ruby's hands began to shake, closing into two balls of distressed fists. "She hasn't been the same, ever since..."

"Ever since the last battle," she finished in the end. Weiss did not dare ask for more details.

For the first time since the storm, Ruby appeared to act her true age. It was hard to believe that she was two years younger than her. She always seemed so mature, even if she was occasionally capable of being the world's goofiest, biggest dolt. Now, Weiss felt overwhelmed, unsure how to deal with the fifteen-year-old huntress, being presented as so unbearably vulnerable.

"There was a big battle at Beacon. Someone infiltrated the kingdom's defenses and a horde of Grimm invaded the school. The White Fang were...also there," Ruby trailed off again, wearing a terribly distant look. Weiss knew that these were all memories of the past, but the pain in the girl's eyes were fresh; for a moment, she felt that she was there, living through the nightmarish bloodshed.

"Blake ran away after the battle," said Ruby, once she could finally regain her bearings. "I don't know why. I was unconscious for most of it. I don't know what happened between her and my sister. I wasn't there to stop her."

"I wasn't there to stop you either. When you-" Ruby froze, realizing what she had just said. "When my _partner_ left," she corrected herself glumly.

"And why did she leave?" Weiss asked slowly, gliding over the girl's mistake.

"She didn't leave on purpose," Ruby spoke fast, perhaps to defend her friend's honor, or perhaps to deceive her own pain. "Her dad came to take her away. He didn't think Vale was safe anymore."

"We didn't even get to say goodbye," she said miserably. "I miss her. I miss her a lot. And maybe because I wanted to see her so much, I ended up meeting you instead."

A faint smile quivered on her lips. It passed away, and stillness possessed the rest of her conscious face. There was a brief period of transcendence, and the emotions in the room amplified in the light. It didn't dawn upon Ruby what sort of expression she was wearing on her visage. If she didn't know, no way could she attempt to hide it - that look of pure, unvanquished longing. Ruby couldn't know, not when the huntress herself didn't seem well enlightened about her own feelings. Though in Weiss's eyes, the exchange left little for interpretation. Based on what she witnessed, the connection Ruby Rose had made with her partner couldn't possibly end at a mere line of friendship.

For a short time, Weiss could have sworn that the huntress had leaned in. Was it insane of her to have imagined that course of action? It must have been, as it was Ruby who brought them back onto earth again with a start.

"Weiss, I need to tell you something."

Don't interrupt me, she seemed to be saying, don't say anything. Just sit there and listen.

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way but... It hurts to be with you," the girl said, in a series of controlled pauses. "It hurts to see you, standing there, looking all like Weiss when you're- when you're not her."

There hadn't been a hint of malice in the huntress's tone. Yet Weiss now finally understood everything in the grand scheme. She had her answer, and now that she held the news of the truth, it greatly disturbed her to think that she could have been so selfishly ignorant. Perhaps, she hadn't been helping Ruby at all. If she took a step further, she had been making it worse.

"I'm sorry" was all that Weiss could muster up to say.

"You don't have to be," Ruby told her, staring at her plainly. "It's not your fault. You've been amazing to me."

Weiss listened to this without a speech in hand, unsure whether or not she wanted to agree with this statement. "I may not be your partner... However, I do think that your partner must be incredibly fortunate to have someone like you by her side," she instead said, believing this would be a flattering remark.

"Hah. Yeah right."

"Really," Weiss maintained, frowning at the girl's scornful response. "If she's anything like me, she'd appreciate it."

"You just don't get it," uttered Ruby, seeming determined to contradict her. "I'm supposed to be a huntress."

This didn't help her understand at all, since Ruby was the only (and the best) huntress she had seen by far.

"You _are_ a huntress," she asserted in return. "You saved my life. I'm sure you saved a lot of lives before that too."

"I don't care about the people I saved," Ruby said. "I care about the people I failed."

The room trembled in the silence that followed.

"I failed my team. I failed my partner, I failed my sister... I couldn't save anybody, not Penny... Not even Pyrrha! I promised Jaune, I promised everybody that I would bring her back. And yet here I am, safe and sound in a different city, in a different universe. I left them all behind so that I could make a difference, and now I don't even know if I'll ever be able to get back to them!" Ruby cried. "You don't understand. You can't understand!"

"You're right. Maybe I don't know what to think of all this. And maybe I can't even begin to imagine how bad this situation is for you! Because as you have very candidly pointed out for me before, I am _not_ a part of your world," said Weiss, as she copied the same rough, incensed voice that she heard. Ruby's eyes remained immovably attached to the floor as she began to lose her temper.

"But I do understand what it means to fail. I know what it's like to feel utterly useless, feeling as though the only action you can ever partake in is to watch the world move on as you stand there, having nothing left to contribute." She softened, little by little, speaking with sorrowful and gentle tones. "Ruby, my mother passed away last month."

An unnatural silence and desertion reigned there.

"...I'm sorry to hear that," Ruby eventually whispered. There was a flicker of shock and consolation. Her fingers twitched, instinctively progressing towards her in comfort. The look and the action had occupied an instant, but Weiss had noticed them nonetheless.

"That's why I had to move in here with my father," she carried on, with a weary sound. "I haven't even seen him since I was a child. I'm sure that I'm just a nuisance to him. But he had to take me in, because technically... I am a Schnee. I am still his daughter."

The minutes passed. Weiss became fully conscious of a freezing stream of air pouring into the room.

"I was lonely. It has always been lonely. You made me realize that. I was prepared to give up and lock myself in for forever." A familiar sour taste rose inside her throat. "But you made me look, you forced me to open my eyes to a world that's bigger than my own."

"I know that you can't stay here forever, and I'm going to have a miserable time forgetting that you ever existed." An interval passed, as she mulled over this thought. "But I'm still glad that I had the chance to meet you," she shared, as well as her emotions would let her. "You might not be, but I am."

With this, Weiss stood on her feet. Firmly keeping her back on Ruby, she went forward a few steps.

"Weiss... I..." Ruby said, at her hoariest. "I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," she instructed. The huntress yielded without a word more. "Because we still have one last job to do."

* * *

Weiss stood in complete silence, pressing her left ear onto the wooden door. Once in a while, she would still hear murmurs of voices coming from the first floor. At one point, she swore she heard the sound of wet tires, rolling into the opposite side of the gates. It had been several minutes though, since she heard the trace of footsteps roaming across the third floor.

She had told one of the servants that she did not feel very well. It was the simplest lie she could conjure, and it required no unnecessary embellishment. It was a risky situation, and would lead to utmost panic if she were to be caught. Nevertheless, Weiss convinced herself to lock such worries in the deepest, most inaccessible recesses of her brain.

Accepting a pill and a warm cup of chamomile tea, she retreated back to the bedroom, asking them to not disturb her until the next morning. Only then could Weiss lock her room door and give Ruby a small thumbs up.

Ruby hopped off her bed, nodding in understanding. The two swapped a short glance, a gap in which Weiss took the opportunity to observe the young girl's conditions. The huntress seemed burdened and troubled, yet there was no ounce of fear in her posture as usual. Even now, after all she had seen Ruby do, this still struck her as a point of amazement. Hearing about her adventurous tales from Remnant, Weiss's respect for her merely grew. This girl, at the age of fifteen, had already enrolled into a school, specializing in the skills of slaying monsters. At the age of fifteen, she had already participated in what Weiss could only ever define as a war zone.

Ruby was a hero, there was no doubt about it. And Weiss, standing in her tracking pants and white runners, was supposed to be her temporary assistant.

Weiss did not feel like retracting her previous statement. Despite all this, magic and semblances alike, she harbored little but close to no jealousy towards Ruby's way of life. Her occupation, though thrilling, hid too much pain within. That dismal, washed-up look, that look foretelling danger and that look retelling of death – it was not a visage Weiss wished for anyone to ever wear.

In the beginning, she imagined herself to be similar to Ruby. When they first shook hands as ambivalent acquaintances, she had summed up Ruby's lonely predicament as the same empty, hollowness of her own solitude. Now, she found, she had terrible underestimated the extent of their correspondence.

"Are you sure you want to come along with me?" Ruby asked, for the fourth time in the same hour.

"Yes," said Weiss, repeating her answer from before. "Yes, of course."

Ruby nodded, though her countenance still remained grave. Weiss bit the bottom of her lip, fully aware of the fact that she may as well be more of a burden than a sidekick. On a certain level, perhaps both of them agreed that this mission would be the only attempt at a real closure. Weiss, in high hopes, prayed that Ruby understood this. She was already busy telling her own heart about this, informing herself that this truly would be the end of her relationship with Ruby Rose.

The Grimm. The smuggling of food, the constant hide-and-seek play with her father and her father's workers. It was all for the best. It had to come to an end.

"Come on," a voice broke through her garbled thoughts. Weiss glanced up, seeing Ruby as she beckoned her towards the window.

"Can we ever exit the normal way?" Weiss complained, partly out of habit. Nevertheless, she did as she was told, grabbing her light backpack and tiptoeing towards the large window. Ruby held her hand, a firm grip promising Weiss that she would not let her fall. With a slight shudder, Weiss closed her eyes shut.

They jumped.

The terror of falling was remarkably less frightening than before. Even if she weren't being safely carried in Ruby's arms, this wasn't an act of forceful kidnapping like before; and for some demented reason, the fingers intertwining against her, etched with trust, made her feel so much safer than their initial meeting.

There was just a quiet, nearly silent, thump. In an instant, Weiss felt her shoes touch the ground, and she finally resumed breathing. Opening her eyes, she looked around, realizing that they had jumped from her room, across the garden walls, directly onto the pavement of the cold, empty street floor.

It was dark, as night descended more quickly during this season. Weiss kept close to Ruby, her one hand on an industrial flashlight, and the other keeping a firm clench on her metal baseball bat. It was a birthday present she received, years ago from her mother who insisted she needed to spend more time outdoors. When she had unwrapped it then, Weiss would never have imagined that she would be using it to bash in a potentially vicious wolf's head. In a twisted sense, she wished that her mother was watching over her right now. The woman would be completely racked with worry, but hopefully she would be proud of her unanticipated courage.

Once they were a block away from the estate, Weiss stopped fussing for now, converging her attention back onto Ruby.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked, noticing the young girl shrink several inches whenever somebody new walked by. "Why are you walking like that?"

It was a funny, stiff sort of stroll. Weiss frowned, also observing that Ruby was hiding something along the inner side of her cape. Her right arm barely moved, which only made the action more peculiar and dubious.

"Um…" Ruby seemed to hesitate. "Promise not to yell?"

They both stopped on the side of the road. Ruby moved, turning to face Weiss as she revealed what she had been holding in her hand.

"Ruby!" Weiss gasped, fighting to keep quiet. "That's a-!"

"Ssh!" Ruby hushed her, letting the cape drop back down, perfectly shrouding the standard kitchen knife underneath her red cloak. "Come on, Weiss. You promised not to yell at me."

"I don't care what I said! I keep telling you, you can't just carry around a kitchen knife like that," confronted Weiss in a vicious whisper. "You'll be arrested! No- _You_ won't be arrested. The Ruby Rose in _this_ world will be arrested! Do you really want your other self to be responsible for the crimes you commit?"

"…Well, no." The young huntress paused, as if this thought hadn't dawned upon her until now. "But who says I'm going to get caught?"

This was a rather cocky response, although nothing on Ruby's expression showed that the girl had meant to sound so haughty. To Ruby, who belonged in a world where people freely carried around guns and ammo, Weiss supposed that concealing a small kitchen knife would be anything but a daunting task.

"How come you're allowed to carry around a bat but I can't choose my own weapon?" Ruby retorted.

"Because," she sighed. "People use _this_ to play ball. Knives are often used to stab people."

"Geez, Weiss. Don't be morbid. I'm only going to use it to stab the Grimm, not people." Ruby frowned. "And, if worse comes to worse, I may end up borrowing that bat from you too."

"That sounds fantastic." Weiss rolled her eyes, wishing it didn't have to come to that. "Try not to get blood on it."

"Cool."

"So, how were you planning on finding this beast in the first place?" Weiss asked, casually. She had expected the huntress to have some form of a plan, or at least knowledge that would help them locate the Grimm through a simple, methodical process. "Any ideas where it might be?"

"I'm not so sure," muttered Ruby.

"Then let's try and brainstorm," Weiss proposed as they continued their walk. "How big is a Beowolf?"

"Um, it's pretty big? About as big as a normal wolf on its hind legs," described Ruby.

"How do you reckon something that big hasn't been noticed yet?"

"I don't know. They could be hiding in the shadows… In between trees…" The huntress tried to explain. "They could try and be inconspicuous if they want to. But normally the Grimm aren't smart enough to consider things like that. They're perfectly comfortable with attacking people in broad daylight."

"Oh."

"Unless it's an old Alpha wolf," added Ruby. "They tend to be a lot smarter. And bigger too."

"All right. A big, black wolf that can walk on its hind legs. It'll definitely need to hide somewhere during the day," Weiss listed her rationale. "And the only places around this part of the city big enough for that would be…the park or the underground sewage system."

They both shared a look, and simultaneously turned their heads, staring down at the manhole to their left.

"I am _not_ going down there," Weiss said clearly, preventing Ruby from suggesting another crazy idea.

"Okay." The huntress shrugged. "The park first then."

* * *

The streets weren't nearly as deserted as she hoped. Though the closer the time became towards midnight, the neighborhood seemed to slowly be lulled into slumber. Rambunctious children, athletic joggers, and dog walkers have long since vacated the park. It wasn't a full moon tonight. If it had been so, perhaps the scene would have been a little too ironic, since they were technically in pursuit of a wolf.

Ruby had gone quiet since their last banter. The huntress always grew graciously calm in the face of danger. The fact that the young girl walked beside her, with heightened senses and her weapons exposed, didn't allow Weiss to interpret it as a good sign. They traveled to the heart of the park and began their search from the top. It was a shorter trip than before, as they had memorized the course. Deciding to finish a full circle, they turned clockwise as they went.

"How are you planning on finding it?" Weiss queried, when she could no longer help herself.

"Well, I'm really upset right now," hummed Ruby. "So I'm kind of hoping that will be enough to lure it out."

"You're kidding," said Weiss, whirling around out of surprise more than anger. In great disapproval, Weiss leveled a stare at the huntress. "So, we're the bait?"

"Yup." Ruby grinned, which didn't reassure her in the slightest. "So try and get really, really mad."

"Oh, I'm pretty mad right now," replied Weiss, clicking her tongue irritably.

"Great!" The huntress nodded, ignoring her input of sarcasm. "Then let's hope this works."

The two continued to rustle through the trees; Ruby seemed to be making no sounds whatsoever, though she was capable of doing this without showing any discernible effort. Time was flying, and they could have easily been on the trail with an hour gone by.

"Weiss, turn off your flashlight," the huntress told her, as a last resort. Weiss didn't understand how blindness could ever attribute to their success; it was a plan with numerous holes. Yet Weiss's protests were drowned in her own fit of exasperated sighs. She was done trying to argue with this girl's line of logic. She obeyed, and they were soon consumed by utter and complete darkness.

Somewhere from behind her, a twig snapped.

Weiss jumped, snapping her head around to see what the source had been. In spite of that, she saw nothing but shadows and misshapen bushes. The park became so ghostly in the darkness. Noises from explainable natural phenomena became a horror story with the sudden added fear of the unknown.

Flower beds, wilted from the cold, with no scent. A jungle gym, absent of laughing children. An unoccupied seesaw, with its creaking wood and its rusty metal hinges. Once in a while, there were voices, usually too far away to be distinctively human. Footsteps on the stone passages around the lake, which she hoped were not imagined.

In the distance, there was the sound of fluttering wings - a bird taking flight, or was it something else?.

The adrenaline had eaten through her brain by now. Paranoia surged from within, reducing Weiss into a crumbling ticking bomb. She wondered how she was even able to keep her sanity by this point. She supposed Ruby played a large factor to this. The huntress was a trustworthy figure to stand by in a fight. Notwithstanding, her shoes still scuffled against the dirt and uncut weed. Her heart was beating, going a hundred twenty on a free way. Ruby, with her trained huntress ears, must have noticed; the grip on her wrist tightened by a tiny but perceivable force.

She said no words though, since fear was apparently a prominent part of their plan. Nevertheless, Weiss swore that if she did nothing to regain her composure, she would end up fainting at the sight of the first living thing she sees. She wondered how the Weiss Schnee from the world of Remnant would behave. A rich heiress - with the power to cast magical ice-powered glyphs - the comparison didn't seem abundantly fair.

"Ruby," she initiated, believing that this was as good a time as any for a distraction. "What is your partner like?"

There was no response, and the woods were too dark for Weiss to read Ruby's expression. Her mother used to say that curiosity often did kill the cat.

"I'm sorry," Weiss apologized immediately, knowing that this wouldn't be the first where she misspoke. "Was it completely insensitive of me to ask about her?"

"Um… No. It's fine." Ruby offered her a small dismissive shrug. "She's pretty different from you, I guess. I mean, if we have to compare, it did take way longer for me to wear her down."

"How so?" Weiss encouraged her. It felt odd, whenever Ruby talked about her huntress partner. Technically, they were the same person, but more and more Weiss heard of her other self, somewhere in a parallel universe, she couldn't help but feel small, undermined by her own doppelganger's deeds.

"Everyone at Beacon used to call her the Ice Queen," said Ruby, as if this explained most things. "Weiss always acted like a total princess, since she's the heiress to the whole Schnee Dust Company and all. She would never say please, she would never say thank you. She made us all study on a really strict schedule. She forced me to accompany her, whenever she had errands to run or some shopping to do. Oh! And she would never let me eat in bed, saying that we were going to attract mice or something... My partner kind of just...expects a lot of things to be done her way."

"Hmm. She doesn't sound very pleasant," Weiss drawled.

"What- No! It's not like that," Ruby quickly retorted. "She's really, really nice to me now. We've been through a lot since then, and Weiss has changed a lot. And I mean, _a lot_."

The other Weiss merely stayed mute as Ruby went on a small rant, watching the huntress's face lighten - in the few instances in which she mentioned her loved ones.

"We didn't get along in the beginning. She really didn't want to be my partner, probably because she thought I was too young and immature or something- which I wasn't," Ruby clarified, after a few secretive eye-rolls. "Anyways, on our first day of classes, she and I got into this huge argument, and she told me that I wasn't good enough to be the group leader and everything... She told me later though, that she was going to be the best teammate I will ever have."

Ruby stopped talking, and then she ceased to walk all together. The little huntress took a moment to turn around, peering over at her through the silent darkness.

"You know," she said, sounding neither sad nor depressed this time around, "this is the weirdest conversation I've ever had with you, ever."

Standing here, in the middle of a forest with a potential Grimm on the loose, talking about Weiss Schnee to Weiss Schnee who wasn't really _the_ Weiss Schnee- Yes, that could easily be summed up as a very befuddling situation.

"Hey, Weiss? That girl you see at your school," Ruby began to ponder as well. "The one who looks like me... Are you friends with her?"

She paused and gave it much serious consideration.

"Well, I wouldn't say friends," Weiss finally responded. "We meet on a daily basis. I sit and eat lunch with her, since she and Yang are sisters. But we're not that close."

"Um, seriously?" Ruby looked at her funny, as if she had already figured out the contradiction. "Isn't that kind of what you and I've been doing for the past week?"

"...Okay, yes. Fine," Weiss admitted with a huff. "I suppose I am technically friends with both you and the other Ruby Rose."

"I'm glad that one thing will always remain the same." Ruby almost laughed. "It's nice to know that even in a different universe, you and I were destined to be together."

Together.

Warmth emerged, rising from a heap of sheltered feelings inside Weiss's stomach. She mechanically repeated the last words in her brain, doubting whether she had heard the girl right. The huntress paused; she looked over at Weiss vacantly, lost in troubled waters and terrible remembrances that came with the night.

It was too late to take refuge in silence. Weiss was sure that the girl had said something meaningful. She opened her mouth, determined on hearing more, when-

"Did you hear that?" Ruby whispered quickly.

The words were released and stayed fleeting in the air. Perfectly calm and steady, Ruby repeated them as they came to an abrupt halt.

They listened.

The night had worn out as the pair stood upon the grasslands, heeding to fluid sound of a sullen lake, the calls and hoots of nocturnal birds, where little of the picturesque tangle of trees and hedges were illuminated by the moonlight.

An ominous growl, cold and murderous. It was no mistake. Weiss had heard it. Then the night, with the moon and the dull stars turned pale and died, and for a little while, it seemed as though the earth had been gobbled up whole by the menacing premonition of death.

"Stay here."

The huntress soar high into the air, appearing so terribly close to the crescent moon that Weiss held her breath, afraid that gravity would suddenly run amok and that Ruby would become lost within the dark abyss of the sky. Sometimes the starry night provided comfort to her in bed. Other times, like today, it gave little to none.

It took a second, a mere second of diversion; a short rustling of tree leaves, a wind blowing, a stray hair tickling the side of her face. One instance, and then Ruby vanished.

"Ruby!"

Weiss didn't think she had really known the true meaning of terror until this moment, when she realized that she was alone. Taking in short, shallow pants, she willed her racing pulse to calm, fearing what its sound may attract.

"Ruby, where are you?" Weiss hissed, her voice almost being reduced to a whimper.

* * *

Ruby had seen it, leering through the woods: the color red.

She jumped, peaking through the darkness, ignoring the sharp edges of branches as she cleared over the land, nestling onto a nearby tree. Wrestling to keep balance, she rested at the top, hiding herself in the shadows as she closely kept her eyes on the ground.

The huntress heard her name once, loud and panicky. She willed the girl not to speak. She begged the girl not to draw any attention.

This was a hunt, and Ruby would not allow anyone she knew to become the prey. Thankfully, the other Weiss grew quiet after that, as if she heard her silent prayers. Ruby remembered the occurrences in which the heiress had always been there for her, and the numerous examples in which she could not reciprocate.

Below her, somewhere in the distant landscape, was another Weiss. This would be an opportunity to redeem herself tonight, to pay back the debts she owed to the girl. If not to the real Weiss, then at least to her.

And as a result, perhaps now was not the most appropriate time to be thinking about this. No, now was the time for action.

Something growled. Ruby hardened her grip on the knife, carefully perusing through the thickness of evergreens. Another instant passed, and then she saw a shape. The huntress held in her breath, making sure not to give away any signs of herself.

At the end of her vision, there was a tiny signal of movement. A front paw and five deadly long claws. And then, she saw a thick coat of black fur, aligned with bone-like armor, and thick white spines springing up along its limbs and back.

The Alpha wolf.

It sniffed around, undoubtedly sensing a delicious presence in its vicinity. Two tasty lumps of meat, walking around in the dark. Ruby squatted down, crouching low as she prepared to dive.

Move.

She descended down, feet first, both hands clasped together on the handle of her blade. The monster twitched, moving its head as it heard the huntress fall.

The knife landed precisely, deep within the Grimm's pupilless right eye. There was a piercing, demonic screech. It writhed, shaking its injury in vicious fury. It did not take long for effect. Two seconds from the time Ruby had charged down, the monster's assailant was clubbed off from its head. Ruby gasped, losing the grip on her only weapon as she felt her body fly.

Torn and flung dangerously into the air, there was little space to react, and it was no where near enough for Ruby to find a proper standing. The huntress let out a hiss of pain, crashing into the closest tree. It had been from a safe distance, yet it still left a mark nonetheless.

Ruby dropped onto the cold ground, feeling the wet dirt underneath her skin, before jumping right back onto her feet. The monster's red eyes followed her motions, the one on its right now half-closed. Even so, the creature looked more angry than in pain. It hardly mattered that it had a fourteen inch knife stuck in its eye. That had barely left a mark on its coat. The huntress swore, regretting that she hadn't stolen a larger weapon.

No longer hidden, and no longer armed, Ruby swallowed, keeping sharp on her toes as she faced the creature head on. The Alpha watched her, the color red gleaming in patience. It was hungry, and ready to kill. However, it carried it out without haste.

Move, now!

The white mask haunted her, charging exceedingly within her reach as she rolled over from impact. She heard the sound of fangs fracturing the nearby tree, and noticed the smell of wet saliva, dangerously adjacent to her throat. She lifted herself, arching her back, kicking off from the beast's chest, whizzing by before the Alpha could close its mouth around her neck.

Ruby circled around, dreadfully aware that the sounds would soon attract unwanted guests. She needed to keep moving. The wolf lunged again, and Ruby waited, luring it in time for the Beowolf to smash its nose into stone. Seizing the event of confusion, Ruby began her run.

The beast didn't wait long, and a full set of murderous teeth were soon set in her direction. A close call, and she somehow managed to dodge away the second and the third. But she was running out options. How insignificant of a huntress was she without her teammates, without her partner, without Crescent Rose? All she had left in storage was her semblance, and her terrible lack of luck.

She jumped, mobilizing from one trunk to the next, keeping an inch of height off the ground, gaining in speed and precision. In the clearing up ahead, there was the thickest tree yet. A broad oak, sturdy and firm, sitting in the center of her path.

One chance, she said, calmly inhaling. Activating her semblance, she made her biggest leap. Bam! Her two feet dug into the middle of the tree; it trembled for a moment, and she bent her knees. Another large tremor, and she took off, spinning in a hurricane flurry of roses and discarded leaves.

One chance, she repeated, her eyes narrowing through the aerial pressure. Her body rammed, deep into the creature's musty fur. There was a large, deafening rupture, of broken armor and bones. Ruby spun in the air, kneeing the Alpha thoroughly in the gut before lunging forward for the knife.

Just as her fingers felt the bottom of its slick handle, deadly warmth encased her around the waist. A shadow cast over her, disturbingly pure black. Silver orbs widened, gazing up at the trail of red light. There was a strong squeeze, and the clawed hand tightened around her form.

The entire surface of her skin tingled. The shield of her aura broke, and the pressure multiplied by ten.

Her sight blurred. She began to hyperventilate, her arms and calves beginning to shake in desperate resistance for oxygen. She struggled, scuffing her boots on the rough outline of the Grimm's chest plate. The wolf did not budge.

She tried left, then right, but kept striking at the air. Her empty hands lacked in size and power. The Alpha gleamed forward, craning its neck to stare at her with blood lust, its primitive instincts triggered, driving it into a craze with the joy to kill.

"...Ruby!"

The wolf's ears twitched. Ruby stirred, her own instincts driving over all thoughts of human sense.

The Alpha slackened its grip. Nostrils flared, in caution and in rushed assault.

It was brief, and yet the outcome was rather rapid. Her muscles had hardened, callous and rigid as iron. She couldn't feel anything but a ravenous fire, starting from her hips, spreading through both her numb legs. Blood rushed through, reaching the farthest sections of her body. Sight and scent returned to her, the taste of blood in her throat forgotten for a faint second.

The need to survive surged her forward, her fingers stretching, this time successfully ensnaring themselves around the waxed wood.

With a furious, inhuman cry of exertion, she wrenched the knife out of its bloodless socket.

"Ruby!" She heard it again.

So sudden was it, and so unexpected.

* * *

There was a loud crack, the snapping of a nearby tree.

Weiss turned, her body immediately drawn towards the source of the sound. She ignored the small voice at the edge of her mind, the part of her which still functioned with reason. It screamed at her to stop, though a much greater force pushed her on.

Her footsteps hastened. There was nothing she could do even if she found the Grimm. Ruby told her to stay. The huntress told her, making a point for her not to be followed.

There was another sickening crunch. It grew stronger in volume as she went, while her steps grew heavy.

It was true that she was told to stay. Despite this, in her blinded state of being, the magnitude of that warning meant nothing to her.

Her body slowed, hearing another monstrous roar. Ice slipped through her clothes, creating a slime trail along Weiss's back. Her breath hitched and she felt her heels pivot automatically, prone to the deepening urge to bolt.

She took in her surroundings, the traces of a recent rampage: of scattered leaves, of dislodged branches, of scratched stone in the pavement, and of indistinct strips of claw marks in the dirt.

A monster, her mind shrieked.

She felt the fear grapple with her, tearing her apart from the inside. Her mind drew a complete blank, remembering nothing as her pupils dilated in alert. Weiss knew what this feeling was.

There was something moving in the dark. Her eyes remained fixed, stubbornly focusing on the tranquil lake in the great distance. Yet there was something, an impending figure picking away at the corner of her vision. It was a common scene from a horror movie, when the poor victim senses that she had been followed, and right upon her realization, she is brutally slashed to her death. Weiss knew that this would be the climax of her decisions. She could give into the fear, and she could run, safe into any other clearing in the woods, away from the monster, away from the Grimm.

But there was a feeling, prickling at the top of her thumb. It nudged at her, implicating the worst possible question of all: What if? Weiss swallowed, feeling the clump of saliva run gradually down her throat, sending a wave goosebumps through her limbs.

As she made the choice to turn, everything slowed for the next minute.

Subsequently, Weiss almost exhaled a sigh of relief. There was nothing in front of her, only an endless supply of darkness. She almost circled right back around, leaving to search elsewhere, when her ears were drawn to a weak, human groan.

It came from the spot she had been watching. She squinted, focusing on a lump of shadow; after a sharp jerk, it began to steadily rise.

At first, it was only at her height, and then it became a large figure, big but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, the 'thing' rose, rising on its legs and straightening its back. The shadow wore an ugly pattern, with big white blocks lined across its back.

It grew another several inches, and its head finally came into view. Even from behind, the Beowolf appeared absolutely terrifying.

And yet, what the creature held in its hand was an entirely different level of horror.

The labor of her trust kept her from fainting. Her grip tightened around the bat, cradling the handle with mighty force.

Weiss rushed forward, fear forgotten, and her sanity beset with worry.

She used her whole body: shoulders, arms, legs, and elbows. With all of them, she swung.

There was a reassuring sound of a crack. Yet nothing shattered, neither the Grimm's armor nor her weapon. She did, however, manage to prod the beast. The bat clunked onto the hard ground, Weiss dropping it out of recoil. There was a blood-curdling scream as Ruby Rose emerged back to life. Something must have happened, Weiss dreaded, as she heard terrible things unfold beyond her field of vision. There was a sickening sound of cutting flesh. A high-pitched howl.

In the next moment, she heard Ruby collapse onto the ground. There was a low moan, which told Weiss that the girl was still conscious, but the extent of her damage remained unknown, and the distance between them was too great for her to check. Not to mention the fact that in between them stood the most nightmarish-looking creature Weiss had ever seen in her life.

She took a second to stand still, staring up at the beast's face, in shock over what her spirit had just done.

Okay, Weiss gulped. This was a bad plan. A very bad plan, indeed.

The Grimm stretched out both of its furry arms, spouting a menacing set of fangs. She took a few steps backwards, feeling as though she was struck by a falling tree. There was a painfully long second. Weiss kept her undivided attention on the creature, making sure not to blink. A single example of broken scrutiny and the Grimm would be on her. Knowing her chances, she would not get far in a race.

Her eyes began to sore, becoming dry and itchy. She didn't have another choice.

Three... Two... One...

She blinked, and the beast lunged.

A loud, frightful screech escaped from her throat. It couldn't be helped. She was only human, all she could was run. Weiss sped down a slope, not having gone nearly far enough before the ghastly head of the wolf thrust itself against the tree by her right.

She tripped from the aftershock, skinning her knee as she rammed into the grimy soil. Her fingers dug into the earth, trying frantically to push herself up before the monster behind her could devour her whole. She felt an odd, unsettling breeze. Then, a very moist one.

Carefully, she turned. She lay there, limp and desensitized in a trampled mess of dirt and weed, watching the shadow that now stood over her. It exhaled down on her, spraying her with its wretched dogged breath.

"No!" She heard a furious voice, just before hope began to wane.

Inexpressibly relieved, Weiss was for sure, to hear that the huntress wasn't dead.

"Don't...you dare...hurt her!" Ruby shouted, through tortuous gasps. And then suddenly, without warning, uttering a cry that was inarticulate and more like the cry of an animal, the huntress sprang upon the Grimm, vaulting with the fatal knife in her hand. Weiss tripped, being hurled backwards as the monster let out its last chilling howl.

The knife sank into the wolf's fur, piercing deeply into its neck, titanium lancing its way through the wolf's scruff.

The two of them held their tongues, waiting for an excruciatingly long time before the monster finally surrendered in defeat. With a loud thump, the Grimm pummeled into the ground, sinking under its own weight, and Ruby, who still remained on top.

There was an anticlimactic pause, as nothing but the sound of nature encompassed them once more.

"Is it..." Weiss shuddered, watching the gigantic wolf disintegrate, expecting the cloud of black, coal-like smoke. "Is it over?"

"Yeah, I think so..." Ruby murmured, casting aside her weapon as she wiped her hand free of sweat.

She nearly cheered, praising the huntress that their mission had been accomplished, that they were both safe. Weiss didn't even begin to think about the future, about how she would ever possibly begin to formulate a proper farewell.

In fact, she didn't even have a spare moment to consider this.

Ruby was quicker to notice, her brows again furrowing in confused concentration.

There was a strange, fuzzy whisper. A gentle susurrus like a stream.

It came with an eerie glow. A wasp of silver began to ascend from the ground, shrouding over the huntress and the dissipating monster. Weiss gasped, fearing that it was another enemy, uncloaking itself from beyond the grave. But the huntress stayed still, apparently unharmed and in no resulting pain. Ruby glanced around her, confounded and bemused. Her eyes widened, abruptly in unforeseen recognition. The huntress gasped, her head jerking forward, meeting Weiss in the eye since their previous exchange of words. In wonder, Weiss returned the gaze, convulsed with the urge to speak; Ruby looked hard into her face, with a pleading fear and confusion that it troubled her to see.

"...Wait." There was something glinting in her dazed orbs, something so crushingly familiar.

Weiss knew it. In the end, it was all the same.

It was the wrong goodbye.


	42. I Miss Our Little Talks (Epilogue)

**Epilogue**

* * *

 _There was a cry of indescribable anguish. And then, everything was radiant. The heiress, like all others, stopped what she was doing to stare up at the sky._

 _It was a blinding white light, as if the entire kingdom were caught in a wave of a milky sea. Weiss hissed in pain, closing her eyes a second too late. Pain accompanied the deafening explosion, and the brightness soon burned enough to blind. The base trembled, the entire clock tower shook, and Weiss toppled over onto the ground._

 _It took minutes for the chaos to settle, but once the light died, and the vehement tremors became mere quivers, the world was left behind in its most empty, hollow stage._

 _For a moment, Weiss stayed still, lying in a heap of stupor. She blinked, and cursed in vain, seeing ugly black blotches clouding her sense of vision._

 _Dazed, she gazed up at the tower, waiting in a state of trance as the kingdom fell into an eerie silence; not even the remaining Grimm seemed to make a sound. In an instant, she realized that something had gone terribly wrong._

 _The heiress struggled for a while, trying to regain her sight, patting the ground to locate her weapon. Once Myrtenaster was within her grips, she used it to stand, narrowly escaping another round of aftershock. Weiss moved slowly, but surely, ignoring the aches from her injuries. Maintaining an even composure, the heiress let her aura flare up once again. White glyphs shimmered into presence, scaling up the walls of Beacon tower._

 _She followed her own path of light, trusting it to take her where she needed to go. There was a rush of adrenaline, a cold breeze swiped at her cheeks as she sped up the steeple. Upon arrival, she nearly tripped, slipping on a cold and wet surface. She wobbled, unsteady on her knees, as she managed to keep balance._

 _The first thing she noticed was her own breath, visible in the frigid air._

 _Weiss squinted, unsure if what she was seeing was right._

 _Ice, naturally, was one of her most favored elements. She was very comfortable with it, the coldness never having been a problem in the past._

 _However, this particular environment felt rather unfamiliar to her. The frost being overwhelmingly chilly underneath her boots; the ice breathed a different air._

 _The heiress peered around, attempting to observe the cause. She expected to see her partner engaged in a fight, a figure in the dark, or at least a standing victor. Instead, she found nothing in human form. Her eyes managed to recover soon enough, focusing in on a large, dark statue to her immediate right. Curious, the heiress marched over to it, sliding her fingers along the crystal, smooth texture. The color black went for several miles, extending down towards the tower's end._

 _Then, her body seized in immediate horror. She took a step back, realizing the object's true nature._

 _It was the dragon. The Grimm Wyvern, trapped and encased into glacial silence._

 _"…What in the world…?" Weiss whispered in shock. Now, her search became further dire. If there were a person here, capable of freezing an entire dragon in ice, the heiress did not feel safe at all. So where was Ruby in all of this? Where was her partner?_

 _Weiss regretted asking the question too soon._

 _Her brain perceived something bright red in the distance. It was barely visible, hiding behind a cake of debris. The heiress soon learned that another life had been left behind, buried under the weight of concrete._

 _This time, the effort to stay calm was well beyond her power._

 _"Ruby!" Weiss shouted, racing through the frozen landscape. Without a moment of hesitation, she was down on her knees, swiping and pulling her partner free. Even so, Ruby Rose did not respond – the young huntress remained motionless and sprawled across the wintry floor._

 _"Ruby, come on!" She tried again, this time flipping the girl over onto her back in panic. She checked every inch, from top to bottom. There were no signs of external injuries. Apart from the dust, and the thin layers of neighboring frost on her clothes, there was nothing physically wrong with her partner. Her pulse, though weak, was still clear enough to hear._

 _But something had to be wrong, for Weiss knew that her partner couldn't be sleeping, and she knew that the girl most certainly could not be dead. Under no circumstances would she ever allow that to happen._

 _As a last resort, Weiss started to shake her, not knowing what else she could try to do. Nevertheless, Ruby lay there, limp and lifeless in her hands. Had it been a case of aura depletion? Weiss attempted to reason with her thoughts. It was possible, it was very possible for the young huntress to have simply fainted in the middle of a battle. There was no pain, there was no agony in her expression._

 _And yet Ruby's face was incredibly pale, the kind of sickly pallor that went well beyond mere exhaustion. Weiss could have sworn that there was a trail of tears, trickling down her left cheek. She saw all the evidences for herself: the fact that Ruby was lying here all alone, the fact that the pursued enemy was nowhere to be seen, and the obvious lack of their loyal red-haired friend; she began to connect the dots._

 _"You complete, insufferable dolt!" The heiress cried, losing control as the fear settled in. "What did you do?"_

 _What on earth did you do to yourself this time? She choked, missing the past in which she could say this, and Ruby would pop open her big silver orbs, smile at her with a wide silly grin, and apologize for being a moronic reckless dunce. It was a routine. She had grown accustomed to their routine._

 _"Wake up," Weiss pleaded. "Ruby, wake up."_

 _It was the uncertainty that terrified her. She was a young woman of conviction, of accuracy and precision, of methodologies proven useful and successful in previous testing._

 _Now, regardless of her wishes, the future remained too bleak for her predictions._

 _Weiss swore that she would stay strong. She made an oath to herself, in the name of her family, in the name of their team. She vowed it in secret, to Yang, and to Blake, that she would ensure Ruby and Pyrrha's safe return._

 _She gave her word that she would not cry. Weiss would do no such thing, refusing to fall victim to this twisted play of emotions._

 _Instead, she held her partner close to her chest, failing to let go, too afraid that if she could not keep track of Ruby's heartbeats, then the small girl would slip away from her for good. Instead, she repeated her partner's name, one after the other, in an imploring form of action._

 _Someone in the crowd must have heard her. She heard wings of a bird fluttering by. Then, there were human footsteps, yet Weiss paid no heed to the interruption._

 _"Ruby…"_

* * *

Ruby Rose awoke in darkness, entirely unsure of where she was or where she could be. There was a wave of vertigo and her eyes refused to open upon command. Her stomach no longer felt like itself, continuously bubbling, and her head swimming in pain. It washed over her face, her throat, into her hands and feet. If there were anything left inside of her, the experience would have been enough to make her hurl. And yet something amidst the darkness pulled her back, keeping her from completely drowning.

Ironically, it had been a scream.

A second ago, from somewhere above her, she had heard a sound. It still rang sharply in her ear, declining to leave her in peace. At first, the plaintive howl disturbed her; it was raw and disconcerting. Yet the more its echo reverberated inside her head, the closer Ruby came to the realization that it hadn't been a simple, ordinary scream. It had been a distorted calling of her own name.

Somebody had been attempting to reach out to her. Perhaps it was singular, or perhaps it was a multitude of people, or perhaps this was the avid work of her brain, overlapping messages, layering them on top of one another into a swirl of unrecognizable voices. Whoever it belonged to, it kept her afloat, awake enough to find herself again.

Soon, the silence returned, and she could hear herself think. It was difficult to ever imagine a world without it, a universe of utter oblivion. But for a wrinkle in time, Ruby could have sworn that she knew nothing of her past nor her present. It took a little while for that unsettling thought to sink in. Fortunately, by the end of it, she regained full consciousness.

The first thing to notice was that she was cold, and that she was lying sideways, shivering on top of a cool, rocky floor. She massaged her cheek, trying to dissipate the numbness as she sat up from the ground. Her silver eyes blinked, pupils dilating to adjust. Several minutes passed, but at long last she discerned that she was sitting inside a pitch-black cave.

The moment of clarity finally reached her.

"Weiss!" Ruby instinctively began to shout, groping around in the darkness, utterly sure that the heiress had been with her just now. Ruby moved her hands to her left, and then to her right, blindly fumbling around in crippling desperation. Instead of human warmth, her fingers curved around a solid and metal object.

Delicately, she moved across the texture, carefully trailing its outlines. Ruby gasped, coming to the startling revelation that the shape of it belonged to none other than Crescent Rose. The metal surface of it felt odd, like anything would if you've been separated from it for too long, but her fingers soon melted into the touch, grabbing onto her weapon tighter than one would of any lifeline.

She was inside a damp cavern. And Ruby was quite sure that she was alone.

Keeping a hand on one side of the wall, Ruby attempted to find her way out. There was a trickle of light flowing from the mouth of the cave. With great effort, she was able to stand back onto her feet, following the path. How long had she been unconscious? Ruby groaned, clutching her head as she attempted to clear her hazy mind.

"Ugh!" Half-blind, her toe tripped over something malleable on the ground.

She nearly fell face-forward. Ruby glowered down, expecting it to be a small boulder, when she caught a messy tuff of blond hair, sticking out from all angles. It was a young man, lying on the floor of the cave, with an extinguished torch by his side.

"Ow..." Jaune groaned, coming back to life as he cradled his recently trampled arm. Ruby scrambled to his side, falling to her knees as she assessed his features in the dark. She gazed into the night, and quickly met with the color of deep azure.

"Ruby!" The blond jolted upright, his mouth blubbering out of pure concern. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did the Alpha get you?"

An odd tingle rose from inside, and it took a second to find her voice. Time seemed to have been on a tremendous break ever since she last heard Jaune Arc's nasally cries.

"Um… No." The huntress replied slowly, afraid of worsening the puzzling sensation occurring within her mind. It clouded her judgments, pushing her to think outside of her comfort zone. The word "Alpha" struck her like a hard physical blow. Ruby didn't understand why it did so: after all, she encountered all sorts of Grimm on a daily basis. Its shadowy presence never left, despite how tightly she shut her eyes during slumber.

Then it came to her.

The Alpha.

She had been fighting it. Just a brief moment ago, hadn't she? She had been in a green forest. She had been close to death. There was more to this story, the huntress was certain that there was.

With a moan, she felt a sudden influx of memories, fresh from experience and yet an inch far out of reach. Like the translucent mist they had come with, the reminiscence hovered over her head, existing in an evanescent state of being. What was it? Ruby urged herself to remember. What had happened to her?

It may have been that dream. Ruby was sure, that by its quizzical nature, no notion of it had been real. Everything had been the opposite there, and though the details remained fuzzy, Ruby knew that she had seen faces: old and new. It had been a vision. A world where everyone she ever knew and loved were safe, a place where her friends and family members could all achieve their well-deserved happy endings, and a future in which she had seen Weiss Schnee.

The image of her partner remained especially foggy, as if a force were actively trying to impede her from drawing it out. She could only cast a mere shadow of the heiress, floating adjacent to her, owning the voice which had kept her afloat. But there had been something different about her teammate, different enough to make Ruby gather that the events were entirely fictional. She felt disconnected. It felt like an illusion.

"Uh… Ruby?" Jaune's voice dragged her out of her thoughts. Physically jolted, Ruby stifled a gasp, rapidly blinking as she stared at her blond companion.

"Are you okay?" He asked again, the look of worry thickening his visage.

"I… I'm fine," she replied, unsure how to respond. "Jaune, the Alpha… I think I might have killed it."

"You- You did?" Jaune gulped, sounding equally petrified and awestruck. "And how did you manage to do that?"

"I don't remember for sure," said Ruby, honestly. It had been a blur of emotions and actions. And most of it, no matter how persuasive and convincing her memories have been, felt too surreal to be true. "Jaune, how long was I gone for?"

"What do you mean?" He scratched his head, mirroring her confusion. "I don't think we've been out for that long… Ren and Nora haven't come looking for us yet, and trust me, we would have definitely heard Nora if she was upset."

"So… Were we in this cave this entire time?" Ruby peeked around her surroundings, then she turned towards the distant exit, from which she saw the same flood of morning sunlight. "Are you sure?"

The blond fell silent, wearing an appearance of decreasing confidence.

"Yeah…? Why would you ask that?" He finally inquired.

"I don't know," Ruby breathed in, "I just- It doesn't feel like I was actually here. It feels like I was somewhere else…"

It didn't make sense. She couldn't make any of it sound plausible, even if she tried. It couldn't be-

"Nevermind." She diverted the issue, deciding to checkup on her fellow friend instead. "Jaune, why were you lying down here? Are you hurt?"

"Uh, no..." He droned off, a drop of shock resounding inside him. "I was..."

She never heard the rest of his sentence. He paused; his face changed; his thoughts drifted back from the present to the past. In speechless distress and dismay, Jaune looked at her.

"Ruby." His eyes stared onward, with their expression gaining in fear what it was fast losing in doubt. "I- I think I saw Pyrrha."

He could say no more. A mutual silence took place for some time. She said nothing, scarcely contributing anything but the sound of hitched breaths.

"I don't know how, but I swear I saw her! I'm not lying, I- She was there, somewhere in the dark and-" Jaune went on, hands shaking and an uneasy tension swelling up inside his throat. "Oh man, am I going crazy?"

"Actually… Jaune," she decided to reveal, "I saw someone too."

"You saw her?" He seemed to clench onto her arm, holding onto those words with despairing relief. "You saw Pyrrha?"

"...No." Ruby bit the side of her lip, stopping herself once after catching her friend's look of devastating disappointment.

"But I think I saw Penny," she divulged, deciding not to mention anything about the heiress. This fact, however, seemed to provide the boy with a little more comfort than before.

"Do you think that- maybe there's a chance that they could be...?" Jaune began to ask nervously, but his question quickly fell short. He audibly swallowed, his desire being further hampered by the dryness of his throat. "Do you think…?"

Again, he stopped to recover himself.

"...I'm sorry, Jaune." Ruby's answer came out as a bare whisper, the only volume of tone she could wield at the current moment. "I just... I think this place showed us what we really wanted to see- But… None of it was real."

The blond stared up at her, despite the dimness of the light.

"It wasn't real," Ruby repeated quietly. She was fully aware that he had heard her the first time, and yet the huntress felt oddly compelled to reiterate it. It was the sole way to be sure about it herself. "It couldn't have been real."

"…You're right," he agreed, the edge of his acceptance escaping as anguished and sullen. There was a deep sense of hopelessness in his voice, the certainty of it carried out by the fact that whatever it was he longed, it was not going to be granted in this lifetime. "But I… I can't help but keep thinking about it, Ruby. She was smiling down at me. She was _laughing_ , just like she used to. And I- I miss her so much… And I wish I knew how to stop this, but I can't."

"I know." Ruby empathized, keeping close to his side. "I feel the same way."

"I could have stopped her. I- I _should_ have stopped her," he let out a raspy confession, his eyes appearing permanently glassy. "If I did, maybe she'd still be here with us."

A temporary silence followed.

"We can't save everyone," Ruby said, speaking at last.

They shared a look, both no longer harboring the same twinkle of innocence they had prepossessed. They had been mere children when they first gazed upon the marble pillars of Beacon Academy. Age was now a useless measure of maturity. They had grown since then – they had a different mission now. The two mulled over the revelation she had just professed on her own accord.

The heavy silence intensified; Jaune stayed quiet, perhaps refusing to agree with what he heard. Ruby took the opportunity to observe him, to really look at him, a task she had forsaken numerous times out of guilt. She had never been more afraid of what he thought, of what sort of blame he would secretly bear for her, for breaking that solemn promise to save Pyrrha and bring their friend back, safely into her teammate's arms. The memory of it still lingered in her head, freely swimming across the scope of her nightmares. It wasn't pleasant to be left alone with these thoughts.

As a friend, as a hurting comrade, and as a huntsman, Jaune had reached out to her. And Ruby knew that by storing up her own burdens, she had silenced him into the same comatose state of depression.

.

 _"I don't care about the people I saved... I care about the people I failed."_

.

She had said those exact words, to someone within a dream.

Once she awoke, everything became so much clearer.

It was true, wasn't it? Ruby didn't want to hear the other side of the argument. She wouldn't. The dead remained silent. The early nights she spent by her mother's grave proved this to be true. Every talk, every question, went unheard and unanswered. Those who remained alive were free to express the most terribly hopeful lies.

Yet, there had been a voice of dissent. A voice of reason that rung inside her ear from memory. In the end, there was nothing they could do but to keep holding on.

.

 _"Because we still have one last job to do."_

.

The voice of it belonged to Weiss. Ruby was dead sure of it now. And it didn't matter if the entire procedure of it had been a dream or not. It didn't matter if it hadn't really been her partner or not. What mattered was the experience of it, of that soothing reassurance that, ironically, only the Ice Queen could give.

It was different from the kind of encouragement Yang or her father could ever provide for her. It wasn't the same fiery passion, the type that easily burned through every obstacle. This one, the one she had turned to most recently, was cold and obnoxiously rational. And sometimes, it was exactly this that Ruby needed to set her straight. Not a warm embrace, not a blamelessly supportive hug, but a straightforward jab from her partner's frank lips. Weiss would never know, the effect she had on her. Ruby never did know, the magnitude of her reliance, until now.

Vengeance got her nowhere. Anger was never her forte. Despair was, and never would be, her best ally.

Because they still had one last job to do, Ruby echoed Weiss. Because she would have to move forward, not only for the people who left, but also for the ones who still remained. Her team, like hope, hadn't been lost. They were simply scattered, and in turn, she would reclaim the pieces and be whole again.

It would all have to begin with one small step at a time.

"Jaune, I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time before," she started slowly. "You know, running off on my own, dragging you in here without telling the others... I didn't mean to make you worry so much."

"No, it's okay," he returned, shaking his head in a lethargic fashion. "You were hurt, Ruby. I understand."

"I think we're all a little hurt," she swallowed the truth. "But maybe some of us are better at hiding it than others."

"Ruby…"

"I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't want to talk about this because… If I did talk about it, it made everything too real. It would mean that everything that happened so far _really_ happened. It's not just some big enormous joke." She stopped and wavered. "Sometimes, I still can't believe it."

He listened to her with silent attention, and wishing not to interrupt as she spoke, wrapped a warm arm around her shoulders.

"I didn't want to move on, not without Penny, not without Pyrrha, not without my team. But a part of me knew that we had to." Ruby stopped to look up at him, silver eyes intently watching his every move. "Jaune, maybe we're not leaving them behind? Maybe we're...taking them with us as we move forward. And that's the only way we can keep going on, together. That's the only way we can keep them alive."

He made an effort to smile. "I want to believe that too."

* * *

 **Northwest Washington, D.C.**

It took a moment to collect her thoughts. Weiss had a long formulated list, informing her of the pros and cons of this particular choice. For now, it seemed to be a pretty even competition. The way to settle this matter completely would be to simply take a leap of faith, something she was making a bad habit of doing these days.

With trepidation, Weiss opened the door and walked inside.

"Good morning, Miss Schnee," a male voice soon addressed her. "I believe we spoke over the phone?"

She gazed forward, surveying a man of an undecipherable age. He was coincidentally sitting by the store counter, as if waiting for her prompt arrival. His hair, an old dusty gray, and his suit a startling hue of bottle green.

"You must be Mr. Ozpin." She sat down in front of him, cautiously, but with full intentions on pursuing what she came for. "Thank you for agreeing to see me. I...appreciated the call."

"It was no problem. My assistant told me that you and your little hooded friend came to see me last week," he accounted, pouring his tea out of the kettle. "I'm sorry for not being able to contact you any sooner. I'm afraid to say I was in the middle of recovering from a particularly gruesome attack against my life."

"Um... Um, what?"

"It's not important." He waved off her confusion, as if his life were merely a trivial matter up for discussion. "Although, we should always remember to be careful of our surroundings. I, myself, will be more cautious around any flights of stairs in the near future."

Weiss simply stared at him, believing that this random advisory required no response on her part.

"Now, what can I help you with?" The man folded his hands together, eyes twinkling in anticipation. "And if I may ask, where is our mutual friend?"

She had expected the inquiry, and a certain dreary mood succeeded her prediction.

"She's not here anymore," Weiss managed to say thickly, not liking the sound of her own voice as she said this. "That's why I came down here. I wanted answers, and I was wondering if you were capable of giving them to me?"

There was a brief pause, during which the man didn't seem to blink.

"What sort of questions do you have?" He posed, taking a casual sip of his brew as he waited.

It had been two days since the night at the forest. It had been two days since Weiss took a step in doing something she never would have done. It had been exactly two days since the mysterious Ruby Rose departed from her life, as urgently and unexpectedly as she had first dropped by.

In a way, her sudden absence comforted her. Perhaps it was to convince herself that her experience with the young huntress had really been nothing more than some simple fantastical fallacy.

But no, there was no use in prolonging the denial. Weiss would be lying if she stated that she remained indifferent. After all, her presence here was evidence enough. On a precious Sunday afternoon, here she was, sitting in a strange magic shop – her visit, led only by a single prickling call.

"My friend... Her name is Ruby Rose," she began stiffly, repeating the lines she had practiced beforehand. The man hummed in reply. She took this as a grant to continue.

Acting carefully, she kept her eyes on him. He appeared harmless, but she liked to assume that the quietest tended to be the maddest. "Before she left, she told me that you said something rather peculiar to her. To be specific, you claimed that she didn't belong in this world and that she traveled here from some other strange, alternate dimension."

She bit her bottom lip, irritated that the man before her had not shown any sort of movement or acknowledgement over this idea. It was an outrageous claim, a statement that any sane person would hear and look down at her in haughty derision. A normal person would have denied it, and perhaps even kicked her out of the shop.

This man, Mr. Ozpin, did the exact opposite, which scared her even further. Yet she had come too far to give up now.

"Is what she said true?" She questioned him sharply, making sure to sound as dramatic and accusatory as humanely possible. "And if so, do you have much knowledge regarding this matter, or were you simply trying to trick an innocent girl into believing a false story, just so that you could make a lucrative sale?"

"I assure you, Miss Schnee," he replied, without a hint of hesitance, "that I did no such thing."

"So you actually believe in that sort of nonsense?"

"I'm afraid I do."

"...Then you're saying that you _are_ knowledgeable in this matter?"

"Well, I must be, if you trusted your sources enough to visit." He nearly smirked at her, pointing out his shrewd observation. Weiss froze still, lips locked, refusing to give him the satisfaction of being right. This seemed to be the lone course of action to take, seeing as that she had no idea what the man was possibly thinking at the moment.

"…All right then," she relented, after a deep audible sigh. "Then what can you tell me about these parallel universes?"

"Only that they exist," he answered. "Nothing more."

Weiss paused, expecting more, despite the man's obviously contrite conclusion. When he took the time to drop silent, enjoying his hot beverage, Weiss's incredulous stare quickly turned into a frown.

"I'm sorry?" She tried not to too offended, though she felt incredibly annoyed at the man's persistent 'mysterious vagabond' attitude. "Is that all you can tell me? Mr. Ozpin, I didn't come all the way down here for nothing. I came here searching for answers."

"Then perhaps you should be asking the right question." He peered into her, eyes narrowing behind his tiny round spectacles. "You do have a far more imperative question for me, do you not?"

Weiss felt troubled at his tone and started to respond, with what she assumed would be another confused tirade, but the man held up his hand to stop her.

"I- I don't…" She tried hard not to stammer, faltering, not knowing how to carry the conversation onward. The situation felt indescribably uncomfortable, like every inch of her were being searched underneath his gaze. This had to be some form of a violation, Weiss was sure. But since she had walked into this shop, out of her own crazy free will, she had no other choice but to sit and listen, processing the meaning behind his words.

Weiss did not- at least, not in that very instant. In fact, she did not trust herself well enough to speak. However, there was no use in pretending any longer.

"Well..." She respired quite unsteadily, and an appreciative silence unfolded. "My friend disappeared a few days ago."

There was a tiny clank as the man set down his glass, assuring her that she had taken the right step.

"It was right after she encountered some sort of a...wild animal."

She didn't know how to explain it otherwise. She would not be going through the whole 'Grimm' conversation again.

"Go on," he engaged her. "What happened to this animal?"

"It vanished with her," she detailed, "into a cloud of mist."

The phrase sounded so silly leaving her mouth, but it was the truth. Fortunately, the man in front of her, didn't seem to cast doubt over any of her words. Continue, his eyes commanded at her.

"I wish to know if you understand the nature of her disappearance." She fought not to stumble over herself. "If my friend did indeed…arrive here from an alternate dimension. Do you... Do you believe that this means she safely returned to her own world?"

She asked the question, and no part of her could know which answer she would have most preferred.

Ruby Rose could be back in the universe she belonged to, she could be missing, or she could be dead. Whatever conclusion she accepted, the underlining fact was that the small huntress was gone. The impending answer would do little to change how she felt about the entire ordeal, but at least it would provide a sense of closure.

"When Miss Rose first entered this shop, I told her something rather important. I told her that there was no such thing as a mere coincidence," he recounted slowly, "which means that if she succeeded in fulfilling her purpose here... Then yes, Miss Schnee, I do believe our mutual acquaintance is no longer in harm's way of this world's fate."

"But what does that mean?" She scowled, feeling even more befuddled. "For what purpose was she brought here?"

"I imagine that you would have a better understanding of that than me." Mr. Ozpin grinned, though the amusement was not reflected in his eyes.

Here, she heard him say this as a perfectly feasible task. And to her, there could not be a more harder assignment. How was she, of all people, supposed to know how the universe managed its worldly affairs? Even with the most cogent and sensible mind, the events of last week could only be described as a mystery to her.

"She was able to slay that creature, if that's what you are insinuating?"

But no, that was not possible. The Grimm, the Creep and the Alpha, had entered this world because the small huntress had dropped in uninvited. Working from that hypothesis, it didn't make sense for Ruby to have been sent here, solely for the purpose of exorcising demons and monsters, if the very act of her arrival caused the previous disasters to happen in the first place.

"Actually, Miss Schnee," he interrupted her thoughts, "I think she has done so much more."

Before she could respond, there was light tapping at the shop's front window, working deliberately to gain her attention. Distracted, Weiss turned around, discovering the source and suppressing an expression of utmost surprise.

She stared at the figure for a few seconds, then flipped her gaze back onto the man. He had an omniscient grin on his face, and Weiss perceived a sudden chill running up her spine.

"I wouldn't worry too much about your friend. Her journey has only just begun," the man said, in a tone of finality. "If you have more to say, then do not hesitate to make another visit. But for now, I believe someone is waiting for you by the door."

She was not much surprised at this, she was getting too worn out over queer things happening near her. Weiss did not receive the perfect conviction which the man meant to convey, but it would have been useless to press inquiry any farther. She, therefore, satisfied herself with staying quiet.

"…Thank you."

She rose from the chair, and exited the store. Half of her was grappling onto what the man had said, and the other half of her couldn't help but wander outside, to that girl dressed in a red sweater and the pile of bulging grocery bags.

"Hey, Weiss!" A bright voice greeted her quite promptly. "It's weird seeing you here, outside of school!"

"...Ruby." She heaved in a small, shaky breath. It went unnoticed, she hoped. "Hello."

"What were you doing in there?" The young girl asked her, twittering away as she picked up her bags again, the brown-papered packages weighing her down on both arms. "Was Mr. Ozpin giving you a hard time?"

"How do you know his name?" She halted immediately, steering an interrogative glare. "Are you an acquaintance of that man?"

"Who? Mr. Ozpin?" Ruby frowned as she mused over the idea. "Nah, it's just that my sister used to buy magic tricks from his store all the time. She was really into it when we were little, but she kind of outgrew them now."

Ruby peeped through the store window, glancing over at the man still sitting behind the counter. He raised his cup of tea, grinning knowingly over at Ruby, who shuddered in response.

"And she also told me that the guy who owns the place is a little creepy," added Ruby, as she leaned forward tentatively, "so I tend to stay away from there."

Weiss bobbed her head in complete apprehension. "That makes sense."

There was a short pause, and Weiss, grabbing the opportunity as soon as it came to her, started to casually walk away. She was, however, quickly followed.

"So... Did you buy anything?" Ruby wondered aloud, tracing her steps like an eager puppy. "I didn't think you'd be into stuff like magic."

"I'm not," she answered succinctly. "I wasn't shopping in there, I was simply...asking him a question about a friend."

"Okay. That's cool too, I guess." Ruby shrugged, disappointed that she did not gather a more interesting response. The fantastic subject-changer that she was though, Ruby promptly moved onto a new topic. "Hey, Yang said something funny to me the other day..."

The girl eyed her from her right. "Um, you know, involving you."

"Good grief." She gritted her teeth. "What did your sister say about me now?"

"What?" Ruby didn't even bother to explain before snickering to herself. "No, it's not like she said anything mean! She just mentioned that you wanted to give me something? But I was out sick and you weren't at school last Friday."

"…I see." Relieved, Weiss took in a calming breath, feeling incredibly gracious that the blonde hadn't started another one of her quote-on-quote humorous pranks.

"Anyways…" Ruby prodded her again. "What did you want to give me?"

"I don't think I have it with-" Weiss stopped talking, as she fumbled a hand through her purse, the edge of her fingers noticing a familiar nylon surface. "Oh, nevermind. Here, I meant to return this to you."

"Hey!" Ruby flashed a quick grin, setting her packages down as she accepted the gift. Under a clear, cloudless sky, she clicked on the button and popped it open. "You're giving me a new umbrella?"

"What- No? This is the one you lent me." She coughed, startled that her lie would be caught so soon. Perhaps she should have taken more time in purchasing a closer replicate to the one the storm destroyed. "Granted, it was a long time ago, but still."

"Um, I don't think so," Ruby swiftly disagreed. With her index finger, she moved across the stem of the umbrella, pointing up at an empty spot near the handle. "See? It doesn't have a doodle of Zwei scratched on the pole. This umbrella's new."

"I don't know what you're talking about," murmured Weiss. "And Zwei is...?"

"He's my dog! And he's adorable," Ruby rushed to explain. "You can come over sometime and see him if you'd like! He loves to meet new people."

"That's a generous offer," she decided, whilst walking away. "Maybe next time."

"Well, did you at least manage to track down your friend?" Ruby asked her, huffing to catch up to her. Weiss frowned, wondering if she should at least offer to help with her bags, but then again, thought against it. However, she did choose to take less hurried steps.

"Yes," she replied shortly.

"The one that looks like me?"

Weiss bit back a smirk at the irony. "Just a tad," she said instead.

"That's great!" The young girl bounced forward, cutting into the path in front of her. "Can I meet her someday? I'd love to see this doppelganger of mine."

A comparative silence ensued. The vehemence of emotion, stirred by confusion and memories, was attempting to claim her, struggling to dominate and reign over her peachy complexion.

"You can't," said Weiss almost involuntarily, with as little sanction of free will as she owned. "She went back home. She wasn't from around here."

"…Oh. I'm sorry." Ruby's face flushed on the instant, realizing that she had asked something she shouldn't have. "I guess you must miss her a lot."

"And why would you think so?"

Ruby scrunched up her brows in thought, as the question had evidently been meant for her.

"Because you seem sad." Weiss waited a little, half expecting to hear more, but it did not occur, and after a minute or two she nodded slowly, a bitter frown remaining some time, even after the rest of her frustration had gone. Her features relaxed, and she drew in a heavy breath. Her face remained pale, but at least it showed no indecision. A waft of wind came sweeping down the block, and curved around them, stretching to an indefinite distance.

"Maybe I am." She shrugged. "It's strange... I didn't even know her for that long."

"Well, you don't have to know someone for that long to see that they're special," reasoned Ruby.

"I suppose you're right about that one," Weiss conceded with a faint smile. "I'm actually glad that I wasn't with her for any longer."

"How come?"

"Because if I knew her well enough, I wouldn't know what to do with myself" came an answer, from the depths of her heart. The part of her which was the most well-informed. If she could construct a letter about it, she would: It would be short and condense, speaking volumes of what she couldn't bear to let escape from her. "It's rather complicated."

"I've got all day. Yang's out somewhere with Blake and Penny went to visit her dad for the weekend..." Ruby sighed, running off on another tangent. "I was planning on going to a cafe and trying to get some work done there, but I'll probably end up procrastinating for most of the day. I mean, I try not to, but Professor Peach's assignments are just so boring and almost impossible to get through in one sitting! Usually, I have Blake or Penny to keep me company, and they make sure I'm staying on task and everything, but since everybody's so, so busy with their da- Oh, hey!"

Ruby made a sudden halt in her words, her countenance revealing that she had just conjured up the most marvelous idea.

"Do you want to join me?" She offered quickly, and awkwardly. "I mean- we can talk more about your friend over coffee and then we can split a cookie for dessert!"

Even if she hadn't met the other Ruby Rose from Remnant, perhaps she would have still met this one. Yang would have still pushed her out of the main office on her first day at school. Blake would have still been involved with the blonde when she walked into the private classroom... She would have gone to the same school and they would have, in due course, at some point in the insane grand scheme of things, became friends.

…Or perhaps she would have remained the same obstinate fool she was before a small huntress opened her eyes to a new world.

"That sounds appropriate," she answered eventually, startling both herself and the recipient. "But first things first..."

"Ruby Rose." Pretending to be oblivious, she offered her that belated handshake. "I'd like us to start over, please."

"Uh… And why would we have to do that?" Ruby asked all the right questions, staring at her with a funny quizzical expression.

"Just trust me." She whispered her last words, "I need to do this."

"O-o-kay?" Ruby laughed amiably as she grabbed her by the hand. "You sure are weird, Weiss."

Her lips thinned into a small smile, knowing how well the girl was surprisingly right about that one. Weiss peered down at the greeting gesture, feeling the warmth of another, widening possibility.

It was a firm, promising shake.

* * *

 _Dear Ruby,_

 _Wherever you are, I hope you are doing well. The weather over here has turned for the better. I wonder how the climate would be in your part of the universe. It is a very generic opening to a letter, I realize, but I bid you to understand that writing this note, despite knowing that you shall never read it, was nonetheless a daunting task._

 _So, here goes nothing._

 _I won't say that I'm glad to have met you. But I will say this..._ _I wake up in the morning, expecting something in the unexpected. I seek comfort in the ordinary of my life, and yet I still wait for the extraordinary._

 _I will say that it was me who you met in this world, not anyone else whom may continue to consume your mind. You told me that you being here had been a result from the obstruction of fate. And even so, I can't help but think that it was fate for us to meet. This, coming from a skeptic like me, is a bigger deal than you would ever believe._

 _You changed me, Ruby Rose. I recede from passing judgment upon this change until I am absolutely sure that the transition has been for the better. But the few nights you stayed in my life, insomnia left no marks on my mind. Your existence drove away my fears, and your pain and grief helped me come in terms with mine. With you, I felt a force much larger than I am, and whatever I will face in the future._

 _I'm glad that you left the way you did. I was afraid of what would have happened if it hadn't been dealt with quite so abruptly... Although a plain 'goodbye' wouldn't have killed you, I imagine._

 _But in all seriousness... If I learned more about you, if you confided in me more of your memories and your private desires, then I wouldn't be sitting here, missing you rather than hating you for leaving. I'm glad that you left in time so that I could find out more of you through the Ruby in this world._

 _I'm glad that you left before transforming into an inescapable eclipse. Because then, I wouldn't be able to look at Ruby the way I do now. If feelings went deeper, I would be searching within her, a piece that resembled you the most, like you had searched for your partner within me._

 _Your partner and I are both different people. I have no talent in wielding a sword, and am no closer to practicing sorcery than I am to producing magic beans. On a similar note,_ _you are both the same, and yet a different, rose from the one present here._

 _She is different from you. I'm glad that I don't have to pretend._

 _So, thank you, Ruby Rose from the world of Remnant. I hope that I was able to affect you as much as you were able to do for me._

 _Rest assured that you will never be forgotten; you have forever been engraved into my memories as the brave, nettlesome huntress that you are._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Weiss._


	43. The Ocean Is Big and Blue (Part 1)

A prompt-based story dedicated to JennyXHanX

* * *

 **Title:** The Ocean Is Big and Blue

 **Song Prompt:** Sink to the Bottom by Fountains of Wayne

 **Genre:** Romance/Drama/Angst/Pirate AU

 **Characters:** Blake, Yang, Weiss, Neptune

 **Pairing:** Bumblebee

 **Synopsis:** "Do you know what being a pirate is all about, Lieutenant Belladonna?" The captain's eyes gleamed, bright and intense, with no shadow of a doubt as they stared into hers. "Freedom."

* * *

 _"_ _Everyone else is going somewhere  
_ _They're going nowhere,  
_ _and I'll be there too  
_ _I might as well go under with you._

 _I wanna sink to the bottom with you  
_ _I wanna sink to the bottom with you  
_ _The ocean is big and blue  
_ _I just wanna sink to the bottom with you."_

* * *

The sea remained calm and tranquil, the kind of silence that came only on an early spring morning. A young woman stood on the deck, listening to the wildly soothing waves of the ocean, breathing in the scent of fish and musty salt. Just like any other day, Blake Belladonna sat out at the forepeak, resting under the gigantic flag of the Marine Force. It would be a short while until the rest of the crew awoke, their shrill Captain usually being the first to stir. By then, it would be impossible to shirk her duties for any longer.

Blake had never been much of an early riser when she was younger. She's always been fonder of sunset, and the pale light that came with the moon at night. Yet, out here on the waters, everything felt different. The air of twilight felt special, much too alluring to ignore.

It was still an early start to the season, and the wind grew abnormally chilly out on the ocean. The breeze stroked her hair, traveling rather lifelessly compared to the churning waves. She burrowed into the front of her jacket, digging out a small flask from her hidden waist pocket. Popping open the lid, she took one well-deserved swig. The pungent taste of alcohol stung the tip of her nose and burned through the rest of her throat, leaving behind a fiery wave of vanilla, cream, and nutty caramel. Blake shuddered in odd satisfaction, swallowing away the bitter sweet aftermath residing on her tongue.

"Drinking again, Belladonna?" A disapproving voice asked her from behind. There was the echoing sound of shoes, clanking against the wooden floorboard. A figure emerged, standing a foot away from her side. "I was hoping this wouldn't become another charming habit of yours."

Feigning ignorance, Blake took another short sip, knowing all too well who the shadow belonged to. There were very few people on board who would be rude enough to interrupt her moment of privacy.

"Captain," she acknowledged the girl without much sincerity, staring up at the pair of cold sky blue eyes. Weiss Schnee appeared before her, seeming entirely unapologetic.

"You need not call me that when we're alone, you know," the young woman said sharply. "I thought I made myself clear the last time we had this conversation."

"My apologies, princess." Blake smirked, dropping the formalities at once to meet a familiar face. "I forgot how much you preferred old names over the new."

"I would prefer it if you didn't mock me either." Weiss frowned, sensing that something was off with the woman before her. "And might I ask what business you have with that bottle in your hands? Is something on your mind?"

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Blake wore a harmlessly innocent smile.

"Well, it's not entirely uncommon to see you off brooding on your own like this. That's probably something you've excelled at since birth," Weiss stated in a straightforward manner. "But I know for a fact that you've never been much of a drinker before. And you see, Belladonna, when I recommended you as the best candidate for this job, I didn't think you would be spending half your time in a state of near inebriation."

"Captain. Is it just me or do I detect a hint of concern?" Blake countered in turn, grinning softly as she teased. "Please forgive me. I didn't realize I was the subject of your dear attention for so long."

Weiss huffed, making an incomprehensible noise of grand annoyance. She did not deny it though, deciding not to bother concealing her unease for any longer. "Yes, that is correct. I am concerned. As an old acquaintance of yours, as well as the definitive Captain of this ship, I believe I do have the right to know what is troubling my second in command."

"Nothing is wrong. I simply wanted to watch the sunrise in peace." She fought hard not to add in the word "silence" at the end. That would encourage the very opposite effect from what she desired. Instead, Blake offered her the flask, aspiring to lighten the mood with proper social decorum – the Weiss Schnee way of dealing with awkward matters. "Would you like to join me? I have plenty left to share."

"I should think not!" Weiss declined almost at once, pressing her lips together in outright disdain. "Frankly speaking, I believe at least one of us should stay sober for the rest of our voyage."

"It's never hindered my judgment before," went on Blake at the degrading exaggeration. "You must trust me enough to know that."

"Perhaps it's been that way for now." Weiss's lips curled into a tiny, misshapen frown. "But I hope you will never betray me of that trust, _Lieutenant_ Belladonna."

"If I may recall," muttered Blake, sounding more bitter than she meant to do so. "I never asked to be given this position in the first place."

"I beg your pardon?" Weiss frowned in confusion, thankfully doubting the clarity of her own ears.

"I said that your hair looks lovely today, Captain."

The captain blinked, unsure if her subordinate were kidding or not. Rolling her eyes, Blake returned to her drink, bringing the flask back up to her dry lips.

Soon enough, the burning smell reached Weiss's nostril, and the girl recoiled, wrinkling her face in immediate disgust. "And what vile concoction are you even drinking?"

"Rum," she replied quietly.

"Rum?" Weiss repeated the term in shock. Then, she proceeded to glower down at her, crossing her arms into a tight, impressive knot. "That's just pirate's swill."

"I suppose so." It was, indeed, a very cheap form of smuggled alcohol; Blake had already foreseen what the woman would say at the sight of it. Nonetheless, she let out a small snort of defiance. "I bear the fault this time, Captain. Sometimes I forget that you're from a much higher social standing than I am."

"It's not a matter of class," Weiss shot back. "It's a matter of refined taste."

"Of course," she agreed automatically, not eager to pick a fight. Blake stared out at the sea, a much more tempting alternative than dealing with an angry Schnee. The sun was finally beginning to ascend, the water and sky being seasoned with multifarious flecks of scarlet and gold. It was a mesmerizing sight – one that couldn't be easily forgotten, as if the entire horizon had been set ablaze.

"It's a beautiful sunrise," Blake remarked without a second thought.

"…I agree," Weiss concurred shortly, wearing an almost undetectable smile. "At least we can settle upon that."

"Can we?" She retorted, sounding evidently amused. "I was beginning to think that this was impossible."

"Perhaps." Weiss's lips curled up at again, and they exchanged a momentary glance of mirth. It was cut short though, as her captain cleared her throat, interrupting the event in that moderately cool tone of hers. "Now, if you're done trying to spoil your mind and body, why don't you go make yourself useful and look over our current coordinates?"

"Sure." With a sigh, Blake jumped onto her feet, stashing the flask back into the front of her uniform. "I'll go check on our navigator."

"Please, go ahead." Weiss audibly groaned. "The general specifically asked for these shipments to be delivered as soon as possible. I can't afford another month of delay."

Blake left her with a short nod. Walking across the sturdy floorboard, she surveyed the elevated quarterdeck. There was a tall, well-shaped man slouching on a stool; he had sapphire blue hair and a trail of drool hanging off the corner of his mouth.

"Neptune." As usual, she didn't find any guilt in disturbing his beauty sleep. "Neptune?"

There was an abrupt snort, and the young man bounced a centimeter off from his seat.

"Hmm?" Neptune mumbled as he struggled to find his bearings, his eyes still remaining quite droopy. "What? I'm awake... I wasn't sleeping on the job... I'm not afraid of the ocean…"

"I wasn't trying to berate you." Blake smirked as she watched his fumbling figure. "The captain just wanted to make sure we were on the right course."

"…Oh. Um… Yeah!" The man jolted forward, neck straightening, his spine stiffening at the mention of their boss. Tripping over her his own feet, Neptune – their clumsy old navigator – lost his balance, grabbing onto the opposite edges of the steering wheel in attempts not to fall. This tilted the boat a little, and Neptune, horrified, quickly pushed the wheel in the opposite direction, desperate to rectify his mistake before anyone other than Blake would notice the difference.

"We are… We're right on schedule, yeah, of course!" Chuckling nervously, he glanced out towards the water. Neptune turned from left to right, possibly checking the position of the wind and the horizon. "We're just, uh… Uh-oh."

With ears as bright as a fox, Weiss made sure his words were well-received.

"Uh-oh?" She echoed his words, stomping up the stairs to confront this matter at once. Her heeled boots tapped against the wood, resonating a terrifying rhythm that made her subordinates flinch. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Um… Sorry, Captain. But do you see what I see?" Neptune pointed at something up ahead in the distance, squinting in rising concern.

Mirroring the frown, Blake paced back to the boat's beak, stretching her neck overboard, peering out towards the direction of the wind.

Riding the current, a large shadow was fast approaching, rapidly moving from the northern route. It came with little to no sound, with not so much as a subtle warning. All it sported was a massive black flag – with a white skeletal face painted on the center of it.

"Pirates!" Weiss stole her line. Racing back down onto the common ground, she rang the cacophonous alarm. "All hands on deck!"

"Come on everybody, get your lazy asses out of bed now!" Neptune shouted along with her, readjusting his gloves as he yelled across the ship, attempting to shake the awake the crew with his obnoxiously loud voice. "It's show time!"

There was the thunderous rush of footsteps, and soon the other mates were filing out of the hatch. A flurry of white and blue navy robes filled the ship.

"Prepare to ready about!" came an urgent command. A loud silence followed, with everyone running, hauling and tightening the ropes. Neptune's expression turned solemn for once, clutching onto the wheel as he waited for their captain's next orders.

"We have to turn the ship around," Weiss thought aloud. For a short moment, she glanced over her shoulder, waiting for her lieutenant's instant support. Instead, Blake frowned, shaking her head in calm dissent.

"There's not enough time. We're down on the opposite side of the wind," Blake explained shortly. "They're coming in too fast."

"If we act now, we can still make it," argued Weiss.

"And then what?" Blake countered. "At this rate, we'll be set off course for another week! Are you sure you're okay with taking that risk?"

Neptune raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between them as he observed the fight. "Come on, Captain! We can take these guys on with our eyes closed."

With a slight accusing glint in her gaze, the captain glared up at her navigator, breathing in and out to keep composure. "Is fighting always the solution with you two?"

Neptune answered her with a wide encouraging grin. "Only when it's necessary."

Weiss let out a short huff, then stepped onto the quarterdeck, readying herself on the highest platform. Blake lingered below in mild amusement, watching as their captain huffed and puffed, conflicted between her limited options. It was as if Weiss were tempted by the latter choice, but simply didn't want to be proven wrong. Eventually though, a decision had to be made.

"Keep us going steady," she resolved, and the ship was immediately engulfed by a still tension. Neptune nodded and held his ground, dark blue eyes now twinkling in suspended alert.

"All right, everybody to your positions! Arm yourselves!" Blake reached out into her side pocket, pulling out a golden Flintlock pistol. Keeping calm, she reloaded her weapon, facing the enemy ship that was drawing in nearer, closer and closer like a nightmarish predator.

* * *

Gripping one of the taut vertical ropes and leaning far out over the rail, Blake Belladonna waited. There was a shroud of mysterious mist, suddenly engulfing them from the surface, and by a series of several short minutes, their vision hazed away into the drizzly fog.

"They're close," whispered Weiss from her left. "I can feel it."

There was the familiar creaking of wood, and the clattering of water along the sides. Blake narrowed her eyes, out towards the unknown, seeing a small creature emerging from above. Her fingers twitched into a firing motion, before seeing the gull; it skimmed above the water and passed by the stern. Distracted, Blake watched its last movements, absently admiring the way it comfortably flew into high altitude, before vanishing completely into the clouds.

Another chilling breeze took over.

Three distinct booms shook the deck underneath her boots. Was that them? She wondered, peering over the rail to port, but she saw no smoke or splashes. When she spun around towards their captain, Weiss had been utterly calm, alerting her that the cannons fired had been their own.

They had just swerved east, closely hauling next to the steady wind, ready to continue around on the port side once the deed was done. Blake clenched the handle of her weapon, her anxiety mounting within seconds.

Then, with the blasting of an ugly horn, dozens of shadows were upon them.

"Charge!" A female voice boomed across the sea.

It came, with a downpour of men, each of them flying with ropes tied to their waists. They hovered above with the sails, and descended onto their ship like a flock of unwanted flies.

And by it, the battle had been properly commenced. Several sailors scrambled up the ladder in alarm. Gunshots echoed throughout the still waters, and on the quarterdeck below, way up by the forecastle ladder, Blake could hear her captain's shouts and the sound of a metal blade being slipped out of its sheath.

Shooting down a pirate to her right, Blake edged around the stern, hurrying down to assist her fellowmen.

Amidst the chaos, one last shadow loomed overhead. Playing on basic instinct, Blake whipped around, aiming to shoot straight at its stomach, when she realized that the creature was falling, much quicker than its predecessors, and with much more…drool than normal.

"It's..." Blake lowered her gun. "A dog?"

As if he knew exactly where to be, the small canine dropped right onto the center of the deck, right into Weiss Schnee's unsuspecting arms.

"Who in their right minds would keep a mutt aboard their ship?!" Weiss shrieked, squirming to throw the rather harmless animal off from her chest, to no successful end. "Don't just stand there, Vasilias! Do something! Get this wretched pup off of me!"

It was a scene too good to be seen by herself, and Blake was unlucky enough to miss her opportunity to laugh. Feeling sorry for the struggling girl (and fearing retribution), she was almost ready to pry the dog away when her alert eyes caught onto an anomaly in the distance.

It was small, almost even inconceivable at first.

However, there was a minor difference: the door to the cellar had been left opened.

"You stay here and assist the captain," Blake hastened to say, raising her guards. "I have to take care of something."

"Take care of what?" Neptune blinked in utter confusion. And before another question could be hollered out of his throat, she was already back on her feet. "Wait- Don't leave me here alone with her!"

Quick to draw on a decision, Blake didn't so much as consider her next move as she raced into the darkened basements. Heart racing with adrenaline, she hid behind a wall, watching from the corner of every turn as she advanced inwards. Soon, she had reached the last segment of the cellar. Despite finding nothing of suspicion, she did not lower her weapon, knowing quite well what sort of sorcery her opponent was capable of.

The door closed. So quietly that it amounted to nothing but a tiny snap of air, and that was the strangeness of it, how a small sound like that could induce the kind of surreal silence into a dimly lit room. For now, the world stood still, and gave Blake the vaguest illusion, as though the battle unfolding above the deck had disappeared into absolute oblivion.

"You know, we really have to stop meeting like this," said the coy voice of her enemy.

"I agree." Wearing a cocky grin, Blake made the first move.

Pinning the girl down with her knees, Blake smirked, pointing the glistening gun down at the pirate's unguarded throat. She recognized the shadow from the wanted posters; how could she not when her foe's hair had always been so illuminating, golden as the blazing sun outside.

"Perhaps this will teach you to stop stealing from the kingdom's navy, Captain Yang Xiao Long?"

It was not so much a question as a reminder.

Instead of struggling, the blonde returned the gesture with an even wider grin.

"Oh, I don't know," Yang breathed happily, behaving as though her head wasn't about to be blown up to a thousand pieces. "I think I've grown a bit used to our secret meetings, don't you think?"

There was a titillating pressure, a sleek touch itching up her inner thigh. Blake yelped in confusion, and in a split second, her body had been upturned and thrown down, her head smashing into the wood as she dizzily stared up at her enemy's lilac eyes.

Blake was now, uncomfortably, sprawled on her back, with both two hands immobilized by a tight, python-like grip. A notoriously flirtatious pirate lay on top of her, pinning her down by the stomach, their legs tangled in intimate proximity.

"And you see, I've never been a stickler for change," she spoke again, and the cards quickly turned against her favor. "What do you think about that? Lieutenant Belladonna?"

"I think…" Blake couldn't help but feel a wave of heat rising deep within her chest. "I think you're toying with me."

"Maybe. But you government dogs aren't very fun to play with when you're all tensed up like that," the pirate whispered, her voice managing to reach surfaces that laid deeply underneath her skin.

"Get off of me!"

"Although, I have to admit…" The pirate seemed to be mocking her. "You do have a fiery side."

Then Yang laughed effortlessly, finding her own joke much more amusing than others would. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're absolutely terrible at foreplay?"

Her breaths felt a violent hitch at the question, collapsing onto themselves and back into her lungs.

"Maybe you'd like a few pointers?" The blonde leaned in, her pupils transforming into slits of dangerous passions. Blake winced, hesitant to find out if this part was also part of the pirate's shameful deceits.

There was the smell of coconut and citrus, prickling the tip of her nose, alluring enough to elicit an embarrassing moan. Holding her breath, Blake chose to deprive herself of air, and of that maddening scent, knowing that she would be far better off without both in her current predicament.

"Oh relax, _Lieutenant_ ," purred the blonde, approaching dangerously close to the unprotected parts of neck, her breath tickling the edge of her reddened ears. "It's not like I'm ever going to hurt you."

"I think you need to make up your mind, _Captain_ ," Blake hissed, keeping her eyes open in livid defiance. "Either kill me, or release me."

"And if I do release you?" For this turn of wordplay, to Blake's relief, her threat had held more strength than before. The blonde retracted a short inch, taking an untimely break to pause and frown. "What happens to me then?"

"Simple. I would have you and all of your bloody men arrested." Blake seethed, unsure where her sudden confidence was stemming from. "And then we'll hold a trial for you at the Royal Court regarding your recent criminal activities."

"Hmm. Well, doesn't that sound interesting?" Yang hummed, screwing up her face in tempted concentration, like she was earnestly considering this option.

"But I don't think that plan bodes too well for me and my friends," decided the pirate with an idle grin. "I mean, how fair of a trial do you think we would receive at the hands of your backwards aristocrats?"

"I don't think my superiors would be very pleased," said Blake coldly, "being called backwards by a rootless vagrant such as yourself."

"Do you defend them?" For a short moment, the blonde frowned.

"As if they would have any need for my spare thoughts," snapped Blake at the pirate's level of thickness. "They are _aristocrats_."

"Ah-ha!" Yang dared to laugh, catching the poorly concealed disdain at the end of her last word. "I think I heard a bit of anger coming from you there, lieutenant. I'm beginning to think that you and I shouldn't be fighting on opposite sides."

"I would never sink low enough to become a pirate," growled Blake, crossed by the very idea she presented. "I would never join your colorful crew of thieves, murderers, and rapists."

The pressure around her wrists had instantly turned to stone.

"Unhand me, you-"

"Watch it," the pirate warned, leaving no remnants of her previous humor behind. Blake winced at her sudden murderous glare.

"Watch what you have to say about my friends," snarled Yang, her expression dimming as it moved out of the light. "Otherwise our little session here might end up seeing a lot more blood than it should."

Blake couldn't help but shiver at that.

"You've got a big sense of loyalty for a pirate," she braved herself to say, straining to keep a weak smile afloat.

"Loyalty is all we pirates have to give." Her eyes flickered, demonstrating a slightly less intimidating glimmer. "And who exactly are _your_ friends, lieutenant?"

"…My friends?"

"Who is it that you fight for? Is it for yourself, or for somebody else?" Blake hated this, she absolutely hated feeling this incompetent, believing that this vagabond blonde lying on top of her held the answers to every closed book in the universe.

"I don't understand," she spat.

"You don't belong with them." The voice turned almost pleading, urgent and strong. "You're the girl who fell in love with the sea. You want to venture the world. You seek out adventure and liberty."

"But here you are, wasting away your life under the orders of these dirty noblemen who've never had to work for a day in their lives!" Yang drew herself up to her full height and stared her down. The accusation cut at her like a sharpened dagger. "You work as a hound for the royal bloodline, the people who care nothing for the starving and the poor. I thought you're supposed to be the soldier of justice. But how come you're the one who's lost all your sense of morals?"

"I don't care about what I do as long as I am at sea." Blake averted her gaze, perceiving an invisible squeeze closing around her heart. "And what do you know of this matter? You are nothing but a petty thief, and yet you act as if you know me."

"You're wrong again." The blonde wiggled a finger at her. "I'm not just a petty thief. I'm a pirate."

"How on earth could you say that with so much conviction and honor?"

"Do you know what being a pirate is all about, Lieutenant Belladonna?" The captain's eyes gleamed, bright and intense, with no shadow of a doubt as they stared into hers. "Freedom."

Freedom, she repeated the word in her mind. A part of Blake had said the actual word, and a part of her had been listening to herself say it, deliberating over how she never belonged inside of it.

"You're not like them at all." Yang fought for her to understand. "How hard was it for you to escape that little island of slave owners? How difficult was it to earn your ticket out of a lifelong sentence of imprisonment? What good was doing all of that if you're willing to sell out your skills and values for these scumbags?"

"How…" Blake gasped, as even the smallest pockets of air in her bones turned to ice, and she felt a dreadful numbing sensation spread throughout the rest of her body. "How is it that you know all of this?"

"Because I know you, Blake." Another shudder. She had never known her name could be spoken in such a way, with such a careful amount of faith and lust, of obsession and nostalgia. The name evoked a memory, which slipped and sloshed within her grasps. It began spilling out like a puddle of water she could only helplessly carry in her hands.

Most of it escaped from her. Nonetheless, she focused on the remaining droplets: on her palm, on her fingers, on her fingernails. They were little beads of sweat and pain, each bringing forth a maddening sensation of grief.

Yet above them all, like an omnipotent presence, there had been an origin of warmth that engulfed her. It came to her, clad in a hopeful hue of lavender leaves, of ripe plums, the color of purple.

…The color of her captor's two unblinking eyes – had they always been this soothing?

"We've… We've met before." She was both too afraid and excited to inquire any further. "Haven't we?"

This time, Yang did not answer her.

"Don't play the servant, Blake," she instead said softly. "It doesn't suit you."

* * *

 _"Are you okay?"_

 _The young slave tightened her eyes, squeezing them shut in reply. If she ignored the voice, the stranger would go away. They always have, they always will._

 _"You look like you haven't eaten in days," said the same, terribly concerned, tone. "Here. You can have some of mine."_

 _There was the rustling sound of crust and bread crumbs. Then the warm, sour smell of wheat stung the end of her nose. The scent of it felt so unfamiliar, for a second she hardly recognized it to be real food._

 _"Eat it! Trust me, you'll feel a lot better."_

 _She had to open them now. Not with such a damning temptation standing inches from her throat. She let go, allowing her dull amber orbs to emerge. Her blurry vision eventually cleared, revealing a girl of her age, slightly taller with puffy baby cheeks and freckles. The stranger was smiling brightly at her, a half-eaten loaf of bread still in her hands. Her hair was the exact same color as the morning sun._

 _"You don't have to be so scared of me," the blonde told her offhandedly. She lifted up the pastry and took a small nibble from the right corner. "See? Not poisoned. Munch, munch, much. It's good, okay? Trust me."_

 _There it was again, the word "trust."_

 _With unease, and scarce faith, the slave outstretched her hands, remembering not to seem too eager in case the offer had been a cruel joke._

 _To her greatest surprise, it was not at all like she had dreaded. The loaf of bread dropped into the gaps of her opened hands, and the small blonde stranger carried on as if nothing even remotely extraordinary had happened. The slave cradled the bread in her fingers, treating it like gold as she dared to place it beneath her teeth._

 _"So?" The blonde began to ask. "What's your name?"_

 _"…I don't have one," the slave answered between a few muffled chews._

 _"What?" There was a small snort of disbelief. "Everyone's got a name."_

 _"Not everyone," she whispered back. "A slave has no use for a name."_

 _"A slave?" It took longer than usual, but the stranger's gaze finally ventured towards the ground. The servant moved forward a foot, having grown numb to her burdens. The rusted silver sickles were very clearly shackled around her ankles, still locked and still visible underneath the present moonlight._

 _"Oh." The girl's voice dropped an octave. "Sorry… I didn't realize…"_

 _"They don't call me anything. I don't live with my family anymore. I don't have a name." Words poured out of her, like a cascading waterfall, and with them they brought a fresh trail of tears across her cheeks. The burning droplets dribbled off, cleansing the dirt from the bruises._

 _"I'm sorry!" There was a frantic line of apologies from the other end. "I didn't mean to upset you, honest! I was just- I was being nosy, that's all. I'm always getting into trouble for that... Please, don't cry because of me."_

 _The tiny blonde stayed firmly rooted to the spot, tugging anxiously on her two pigtails, glimpsing between the wall and the ground, appearing as though she still had something left to say. The slave flinched as the stranger came closer, unused to sharing such a proximity without violence._

 _"Well... What did they used to call you before you were sent here?" The blonde tried again quietly, with a little more tact than before._

 _"…Belladonna," she replied after a long injured sniff. "My family's name was Belladonna."_

 _"Belladonna." The stranger bobbed her head, meeting the other with an embracing smile. "That's a nice name. It's very pretty."_

 _She had meant to murmur out a "thank you," but it didn't feel sincere enough to say. Silence overtook them once more as the slave chose to stay mute._

 _"How about Blake?"_

 _It took a moment for her to realize that the stranger had spoken. The sentence from before had been whispered quite delicately, almost like a lullaby to her tired, beaten ears._

 _"What?"_

 _"How do you like the name Blake?" The blonde asked with more keenness. "Don't you think it suits you? Blake Belladonna. It sounds cool. It definitely sounds like a name I would never forget."_

 _"…I don't like it."_

 _"Oh." The girl stood awkwardly, her shoulders sagging in visible disappointment. "Well, why not? What's wrong with it?"_

 _"I know that name. It means black," she answered with a frightened demeanor. "I don't like the color black. It comes with the night. And I'm always alone at night."_

 _"You're never alone in this world!" The blonde retaliated at once. "When it's day, there's the sun, and when it's time to sleep, there's the moon!"_

 _The girl in chains frowned at those words, words that held no special meaning in her empty language. "You can keep that name. I don't need it. I don't want it."_

 _"…I still like it," said the blonde stubbornly, sounding like her pride had been somewhat damaged. "I'm calling you Blake no matter what and you don't get to have a say in it at all."_

 _"But it's my name..."_

 _"I thought you didn't have a name?" The blonde stuck out her tongue in response. "See how important something becomes once you realize how much you want it?"_

 _"You don't make any sense." She grunted, burrowing her head back into her arms. "Thank you for the bread. But you should leave now, before they catch you and you get into more trouble."_

 _"Aw…" The blonde pouted. "I don't think you really want that."_

 _"How do you know what I really want?"_

 _"…I don't really," finished the stranger lamely. Then came another thick air of quietude. The last several lamps turned off from the alleyways, and the small blonde sighed as she pushed away from the cracking wall. She took exactly two steps down the crooked stairs, then glanced behind her, and then took another step in silence. The slave watched in return, feeling the coldness of the evening air grow worse as the stranger left._

 _"I want to be free."_

 _A confession finally unleashed itself. The admission broke out, purging through the darkness. Muffled by quivers of fear, it was nevertheless pure and raw of the desire she harbored so closely to her own dying heart. "I want to leave this island and I want to travel the seven seas. I want to see the world. I don't ever want to come back here. I don't ever want to be living in chains."_

 _The blonde stopped in her tracks, and for a moment, the slave expected her to carry on her way, having finally heard enough. But then her heart did another double take; the blonde girl whirled around, catching her out of breath, wearing an expression of such beautiful optimism._

 _"You can!"_

 _The blonde closed their distance again, and warm hands folded down on top of hers, squeezing them until she could feel the throbs of another's lively pulse._

 _"I promise," she heard the stranger declare,_ _without a taint of doubt in her face_ _. "When I'm older, and I'm strong enough to fight. I promise, I'll fight for your freedom!"_

 _It was the same smile as before._

 _"Wait for me, Blake Belladonna!"_

 _It was warm._

 _"I will come for you."_

 _It was warm enough to burn._


	44. The Ocean Is Big and Blue (Part 2)

_"We've… We've met before." She was both too afraid and excited to ask. "Haven't we?"_

 _The pirate did not answer her._

 _"Don't play the servant, Belladonna," she instead said softly. "It's not worth it."_

 _Her lilac gaze drifted downwards, and her lips curled into a devilish smile. The pirate drew in, humming idly as she dropped closer, but never, not ever, breaking contact with her eyes._

 _The blonde shifted her weight onto her right arm and with her other hand, reached out her fingers, caressing her cheek in long awaited tenderness. Her freckles were close enough to count; Blake could feel the warmth of her breathing down._

 _She felt a kiss to the corner of her lips, and felt lost, giving up the will to fight or struggle. She was hers, and hers alone. The touch moved, sliding down along her jaw, trailing dangerously towards her sides. It pressed against her hair, slipping into the sensitive part under her ear._

 _"Goodbye, Blake."_

 _Yang smiled contently, not wavering as she faded away into the dark._

 _The pirate left, before there was a chance to speak._

 _"No," she would have said. "Stay."_

* * *

Blake gasped, waking up in sweats as the blankets slid down from her bare knees. Her cheeks were soaked in red, and her entire body continued to tingle, practically aching in sore, hot embarrassment. The window outside was dark and foggy. The clock ticked. There was still an hour or so left until daybreak.

Good lord, she groaned, attempting to even her breaths as she fought to forget the dream. Clambering out of the cot, she poured herself a cup of water to quench her thirst. She drained it all in one gulp, and then pressed the empty glass surface onto her forehead, trying to cool herself of the sudden heat.

"This is not natural," Blake scolded herself sharply. She was an adult, not a baby. There was such a thing as self-control, a trait she seemed to abruptly lack. The girl shook her head, in physical denial at the lingering thoughts of passion. That incident had happened weeks ago. It should do little to disturb her sleep now. Especially not in such a fiery, sensational, tantalizingly arousing-

Bang!

Blake jumped backwards in alarm. The sudden noise came from beyond her cabin's door. There had been the short ringing of wind-chimes, and she could hear several angry murmurs coming from the front desk of the inn. Blake stayed in one spot, wondering who on earth would be desperate enough to find a room this early into the morning.

Her ears pointed up, listening to the march of footsteps, steadily realizing that they were headed straight towards her own frosty chambers.

There was a rapid set of knocks. Blake paused, unsure if she should answer or pretend to be asleep. In the end, she had no time to decide as the door swung open on its own accord. Amber eyes widened, pupils dilating at the frightening sight.

A fuming Weiss Schnee stood right outside her door.

"What is the meaning of this?" Not bothering to wait for an invitation, the girl stormed inside the minuscule room. In her hands, she held a single letter, its black seal having been ripped open in half.

"It's my letter of resignation," said Blake, battling with calmness as she recognized the note at once.

"I can read that for myself," her former captain snapped.

"Then what is it that you're troubled about?"

"Really? Does it look like I'm in the mood for another pointless banter?" Weiss breathed heavily. In truth, the captain looked the very definition of terrifying. Thankfully, her fits of ire and rage were sentiments Blake had grown exceptionally used to.

"…No." She didn't respond any further than that, believing another witty answer would be pushing her luck too far. "I suppose not."

"I can't even begin to understand your reasoning behind this, not even for a brief second," growled Weiss. "So why don't you help me better comprehend the current situation?"

She didn't wait around for a nod of consent.

"I stepped into my office this morning, and I found _this_ lying on top of my desk." Her captain held the note up in indignation. "When I went to your quarters in order to discuss this issue with you, there was nobody at the door. The landlady informed me that you've already packed up your bags and left. Gone! Disappeared at the crack of dawn!"

Blake fidgeted in her seat, recalling the burdensome weight of her trunk, which stood directly next to her boots.

"Am I expected to simply accept this notice without a plausible explanation?" Eyebrows lifted, Weiss brought down a penetrating blue gaze, continuing to speak at her own speedy pace. "I shall not accept this as a fact. No, I need a proper reason. Give it to me now or I will be tearing this apart with my own two hands."

The same letter appeared before her again, this time with its envelope torn off; Blake could see her own neat handwriting scribbled along the lines of the yellow parchment, and from the sight of her signature at the bottom, she felt her resolve thicken.

"I cannot." Her own voice sounded small, but unwavering. "It is not the kind of reason you would understand."

"Try me," said Weiss, dryly.

"Please leave, Captain," Blake asked of her instead, stepping out of her chair in hopes of walking away from the fight. "I'm sure you have many important duties to attend to. Is trying to keep an incompetent worker from leaving her post really one of them?"

"Incompetent?" She heard the shrill tone repeat at her. "You're one of the best soldiers this kingdom has ever seen!"

A great exaggeration, Blake remarked inwardly, but she knew that her audience had the tendency to act dramatic. "It matters not how I am at my job. It is time that I've left it."

"What is this really about, Belladonna?" Weiss rounded on her again. "What is it that you're protesting for? Is this regarding your past? You must be bright enough to know that I've never once judged you for your lineage! People can't choose which family they are born into."

"This isn't about that," stated Blake, glancing discreetly at the door.

"I'm the one who bothered to look past your history," continued Weiss, stepping in front of the exit as if she read the other's mind. "I spotted you for your potential, your aptitude as a sailor, as a survivor. Do you have any idea how many strings I had to pull in order to secure a position for you?"

There was an unmistakable snap, and Blake felt something surge from within, like a beast that could not be tamed. She moved back slowly towards the wall, afraid that her own rising anger would get the better of her judgment.

"I did not ask for it," she stated through bared teeth.

"You didn't-" Weiss stopped mid-sentence, clearly baffled by the response. "This is ridiculous! If you were going to despise the job that much, then what inspired you to accept the offer in the first place?"

"It was forced upon me!" In a short outburst, Blake allowed for her emotions to boil, the folly of her captain's mind enraging her by the minute. "There is very little someone of my social standing could do when a letter summons you to the royal castle! It wasn't an offer. It wasn't a choice. It was coercion."

The accusation escaped from her, assigning a fault she never even knew she possessed. Immediately, Blake halted herself, berating her own aggression. Yet the bottle had already been thrown.

"…Is this what you claim?" Weiss asked in an anguished voice, a subdued expression dimming the bridges of her face. "You claim that this is what I've subjected you for the past few years… A life no different to slavery?"

"...No. It was nothing at all like slavery," Blake whispered, anger seemingly dissipating at the harm of her own stupidity. "I- I apologize, Captain. I did not mean to place any blame. You don't deserve such a treatment from someone like me... You were kind. You were different-"

"Oh, please," Weiss snapped, pulling away with a rueful frown. "Spare me this talk of the nobility being nothing but a group of oppressive tyrants. I know that the upper class have it better than most do in the city, and I know what people like you must think of privileged people like me."

The captain trailed off, and the distance grew between them once more.

"But that cannot be the only reason. There's more to this story. I know there is," Weiss decided firmly, determined to get to the bottom of things.

The mood grew cold and enticing. Blake watched, in nervous waiting, as the young woman before her drifted around the room, pursing her lips together with a featureless face.

"There's been…rumors about you," Weiss started again, a mildly distrustful tone encroaching into her tone. "Quite unsettling ones, I might add."

"I see." Blake stared down at her hands, already expecting the worst. "And what has the latest gossip been saying about me now?"

"You've befriended a pirate."

It wasn't a question. And if it were even meant to be confused as one, the shadow looming over Blake's visage did little to hide her thoughts about the matter.

"A few of my men confessed to have seen you…in the company of Captain Xiao Long, during our last encounter with them along the shores." Something about the manner in which Weiss spoke, it made it seem as though her suspicions had already been confirmed. "I hope you know that fraternizing with the enemy is a crime punishable by law. If you are even remotely related to the recent thefts from the royal kingdoms… There are no evidences to support this, of course, but if they were to find something… Anything at all…"

There was a small, untimely cough. Her captain had started to ramble, stopping herself only by an intentional hem; this was a habit Blake witnessed numerous times in the past. And as usual, Weiss went on unheedingly, resuming in a stronger volume than before. "They will not let this matter rest- my superiors. They will follow you on your travels. They will watch your every step. You'll be living the rest of your life on the run."

"I will not run from anyone," Blake replied, wearing an honest frown. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"Perhaps not yet." Weiss bit down on the corner of her lips. "But the woman standing before me today seems more than capable of doing just that, does she not?"

There was a resonating silence, a deep pause, as the sheer quality of this statement began to sink in.

"She has the experience, the insider's knowledge, and…the motivation for revenge. If she were to do anything suspicious such as- such as handing in a sudden letter of resignation, when there are vicious rumors of double crossings and enemy spies floating around… If anything like that were to happen…" Weiss leveled another stare at her, acting as though she needed greater effort to do it this time around. "Then I would have no choice but to arrest you as a suspect."

"...I understand." Blake wasn't sure what it was that bothered her the most: the hollowness in her voice, the stoic mask she refused to let down, or the inescapable trace of acceptance. "Do what you feel is necessary," she found herself saying.

Smack!

Blake blinked, her hands falling limp by her sides. A stinging sensation burned through her right cheek. It took a while to register the strike of violence.

"Captain…"

"Do not speak," Weiss commanded as she pinned her to the wall. "You have done everything to deserve that. And _that_ , in my opinion, was completely necessary."

There was another raise of the hand, and Blake winced, believing another slap was imminent. But Weiss lowered a closed fist, appearing conflicted between her own feelings of belief and betrayal.

"Don't be so daft, Belladonna," muttered Weiss, sounding hurt. "As if I would ever arrest you... I'm just angry. I haven't gone completely nutters."

"…Of course."

"I thought you were my friend. I thought you were someone I could depend on!" Weiss ranted. "Deserting me like this, without so much as a word of farewell-"

"It's ungrateful," Blake agreed with no uncertainty. "I know this."

"If you know this, then why are you doing it?"

It was a fair question. Blake wore a bitter smile as she hung her head. "Losing your trust is a price I will have to pay for my freedom."

"You are free," insisted Weiss. "You were bought by my family as a child, to work as my personal servant, and then I freed you of your chains when you turned into a woman. You already have what you desire."

With a mollified gaze, Blake shook her head. "I wish to travel the world, and see all of what it has to offer. I intend to do it with no agenda or a destination, without duties or regulations. I cannot do this if I were to stay here. And if I were to stay here, I cannot expect to live. It's no longer a desire for me, Captain. It's a need."

"A need..." Weiss lowered her head, drinking in her words with an impressive showcase of patience.

"And you plan on doing this with your new pirate friends?" The tone of resentment returned for a moment. "With those… those bloodthirsty rapscallions?"

"…No," Blake answered slowly. "I plan to do this on my own."

A different answer hung by the tip of her tongue. But she withheld it, not knowing how well it would be received.

"I'm sorry. I truly am," Blake murmured, wearing the shadow of another parting. "Despite our differences, it's been a pleasure serving you for all these years. I will never forget what you have done for me in the past. I am, and will forever be, indebted to you."

"That's not true," Weiss grumbled. "If you really believed that, then you wouldn't be leaving."

"Perhaps." Blake was thankful that, at least for the final heart-to-heart, she could count on herself to be frank. "But if you do consider me to be your equal. If I am, in your eyes, not an ex-slave, not a mere subordinate, but a… a friend, then I beg of you to understand that this is something I must do."

Weiss didn't raise her head; she didn't gift her with a vocal response. And yet, sometimes silence was a better way of ending things than a wretched goodbye. In quiet acknowledgement, Blake bowed, and then picked up her suitcase by its handle.

"If you are ever in need of anything," Blake said, as she moved past the doorway, "do not hesitate to contact me."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" Weiss scoffed from behind, wiping away a rogue tear in secret. "If you're planning on traveling around the world without a single plan in sight?"

Blake grinned weakly. "I'm sure a Schnee will always find her way."

"I will- I will see you again though, won't I?" Weiss stared at her, then down at the floor, her face tinged with pink. "Among all of your absurd adventures, surely you can spare a little of your time to come visit? Visit the kingdom, I mean."

It was a matter of pride with her. Weiss Schnee would never, not directly, say that she was in need of one's company. But Blake understood. She didn't turn around to face her friend again, knowing there was no need to shed tears. Instead, she laughed, feeling something old and familiar return to her, something she didn't entirely want to leave behind on her way out.

"Of course." Blake smiled to herself. "Goodbye, Weiss."

* * *

The morning fog was breaking now, and most of the boats along the harbor became visible. The sea ports were always busy this time of day. A crowd of people wandered about, rushing, hurrying to catch the early sunrise.

Blake took in the chilly ocean air, feeling her footsteps grow lighter as she approached a man at the stands.

"Where will you be heading off to?" The man asked gruffly, sitting uncomfortably in a tiny stool as he stacked up a tower of bronze coins.

"It doesn't matter," Blake answered after a pause. "Whichever boat that leaves the fastest."

He narrowed his beady eyes, leaning over the counter to look down at her thinly packed baggage. "You in a hurry to get somewhere?"

"No," she said curtly, knowing that it would be bad to attract that sort of attention to herself. "I'm just an antsy traveler."

"One ticket to…anywhere then." He pushed out a small permit from underneath his chubby hands. "That will be two silvers."

"Thank you," she breathed in relief, paying the man his coins as she quickly picked up her pass. Blake could sense that the man was watching her, quite carefully, as she sauntered out of line. In mild concern, she moved through the white gates, heading off to the opposite side of the seaport. Blake walked slowly, but with constant restlessness, making sure she found herself at the correct departing dock.

It was a large ship, fit for at least a few dozen passengers. Most of the commuters had already boarded as the captain announced their soon departure from the upper deck. Blake rushed onto the entry plank, hearing the pleasant clanking of her own shoes hitting against the wooden boards.

They were headed towards the lands south of here. Blake had never been to the south before. She imagined it would be much warmer there, with exotic fruits and tropical beaches.

She let her imaginations unfold, simmering in curious thoughts as the mariners raised the anchor and raised the sails. It was a strange feeling, blending into the careless crowd, not being told what she should or should not be doing. It was the closest she had felt to a happy fever. Everything was suddenly very picturesque. It would be a long voyage, as most boat rides were, but by the end of it, she would be somewhere new.

The ship moved slowly, having been delayed in the beginning by the lack of southern winds. Yet soon they were off, and the currents underneath the stable structure swished coolly in a constant rhythm.

There were many different types of seas that Blake had seen. The sea at day that roared mightily into the distance. The sea at night that whispered in one's ear, a gentle hiss of secrets and affairs. The sea that slopped, like the sound of soggy boots in the middle of winter. The sea that rumbled, like a mountain avalanche. The sea of dead silence, and the sea of only noise.

Today's was soft, she noted, closing her eyes as she inhaled, filling her insides with the musty scent of the ocean blue. It was the scent that soothed her the most, calming her nerves, and salvaging her soul. She did not know the meaning of peace before it.

"Traveling alone?" A thick voice interrupted her thoughts.

Blake turned her head, catching the eye of a middle-aged man she had never seen before in her life. He was short, stout, and balding, yet he proudly wore a rather bushy mustache. Beneath the hair, his lips were twined upwards, into a soft amiable smile.

"Yes," she answered sincerely, returning his gesture with an equally polite grin.

"Ah, that's no good." Tossing his head, he waved her off with a small frown. He spoke with a slight, foreign dialect, and Blake couldn't help but wonder where he was from. "These trips are too long and boring to be doing them by yourself."

"Are you here with company?" She asked aloud.

"Well, no." He laughed heartily to himself. "But I'm going back home to see my family. This blasted sea can't keep me separated from my two girls for that long."

For whatever reason, she could imagine the man at the arrival docks, a keen woman and two young children engulfing him with hugs and kisses as soon as he walked off the plank.

"That must be nice," Blake remarked, grinning in an almost wistful manner. He nodded in gentle agreement, and then made a few bristling noises, wrestling something dark and brown out of his pocket.

"Here." He handed it to her. "Have a biscuit."

She accepted it with two hands, and though Blake had to dust off a piece of lint from it, she took a bite from it nonetheless. It was sweet and crunchy, with a strong whiff of butter coming from inside its crust.

"I baked them myself," the man said proudly. "I hope you like it."

"It's delicious," Blake told him, finishing off the melting crumbs in her mouth. "Thank you."

An instant tremble followed her compliment, and the ship shook violently in protest. There was a brief splash of water, and Blake wiped a few droplets away from her nose. It was a common phenomenon, when traveling out in nature.

"Woah! That was a big wave." The man groaned, moving a hand in front of his mouth. "I tell you, I'll never get used to these darn waters. I'll be throwing up over the deck pretty soon."

"You should go sit down." With a worried frown, Blake advised him. "You do look a bit green."

"You might be right about that, little lady." He emitted another long moan, as the sea beneath them grew more fierce. "It was nice talking to you anyway. Have a safe travel!"

"Thank you," she told him with deep sincerity, and stared as the man staggered off. He passed a tall figure, bumping into the human shadow as he left. Blake frowned, noticing the odd presence a quarter of a moment too late. Within seconds, it vanished before her eyes. She blinked, unsure of whose silhouette she had just seen.

Had she been followed?

A rush of paranoia plagued her, as Blake instantly remembered her friend's final warnings, one of the last lectures she would ever receive from the famous Schnee heiress. Blake knew, from experience, when she was being watched. She perceived the same sort of prickling along the nape of her neck. It came with that same unshakable feeling of another's shrouded presence, lurking somewhere in the dark.

Squinting, her eyes grew sharper in agitation, and did not rest until they noticed a microscopic movement to her sides.

It was at the empty space on the landing beside her, a niche in between the stern and the ship's cabins. It was small but large enough for a stowaway to hide in. A thin shadow darkened from inside; it grew, losing in shade and gaining in color, as it stepped back into the light.

Undoubtedly, it was the same figure from before, revealed to have been hiding behind a beige hooded cape. The head panned right and left, before disappearing around the corner. There was a fleeting gap of a chance as wind blew across the ship, breezing through the stranger's hood by accident.

Within the short moment, Blake saw a flying lock of golden hair.

Her feet moved on their own free will, shifting closer to the source of her pounding heart.

It couldn't be her. Blake swallowed nervously, remembering the reoccurring dream she had pushed to the deepest branches of her mind. She felt the blood rush back into her ears, reddening them as she picked up her pace in shameful interest.

She turned the corner, and saw something that quickly rid her of cheer.

It all happened too fast.

There was a deafening fire, a jarring crack resembling a close thunderclap.

The color of gold was gone. Possibly, it had never been there, and quite possibly she had been visited by her own silly little imaginations. In its absence, there was an eerie pitch of silence, and a piercing wave of pain.

Blake reeled back, dazed and confused. Her head drooped down, her vision shaking as she noticed the small black hole in the bottom half of her shirt; red liquid seeped out from underneath, without a warning, without a second of delay.

A sticky, wet substance dripped onto the floor, tainting the wood in dark crimson. Her mind felt muddled and useless. Her chest began to burn.

From afar, a woman's scream kept her awake, and Blake urged her brain to keep functioning. She bit down on her tongue, not ever imparting the satisfaction of victory when she fell backwards, her legs failing her as the shock ricocheted through her spine.

Her mouth tasted raw of blood. Its rustic tang did good to inform her that this was real.

She felt her body sway. She heard the churning of the oceans swelling as her neck snapped, her head leaning over the board.

"Kingdom."

She heard a word.

"Traitorous scum."

She heard him speak another.

The voice was unrecognizable, and yet she felt no need to match it to her assailant's face. She had seen the navy hat, and that was enough. The pistol was still smoking in his hand. Her memory fizzled, fading with the image of a white coat, strutting an emblem of ironic justice, a mockery of what true patriotism should be.

The gunshot had been a wake-up call. A cruel reminder, at its worst.

Change was futile. She had been nothing but a tool, used once and then thrown away when the deed was done. Her life was that of a dried up worm, squirming for a few worthless seconds until her body finally caved, withered, and died. The future was already set in stone. The choice was not at her disposal. It had never been there for her to begin with. She realized that now. Like everything else in her life, she realized it a minute too late.

There was another banging of a pistol. She closed her eyes, listening to the ocean calling her home. The waves crashed from down below, biding its time until their inevitable embrace.


	45. The Ocean Is Big and Blue (Part 3)

_"I promise. When I'm older, and I'm strong enough to fight, I promise, I'll fight for your freedom!"_

 _They joined hands. They walked down the steps together, two children, who had the craziest right to dream._

 _"Wait for me, Blake Belladonna! I will come for you."_

 _She almost spoke, expecting that it would come out high and squeaky, and full of delicious hope. Yet her throat was not her own; it felt scratchy and old._

 _All at once, Blake perceived herself to be growing. The young blonde, too, noticed this. She turned, lifting her small nose, and her tiny lilac eyes widening in surprise._

 _"Wow, Blake!" The child took a step back as she observed. "You're all grown up!"_

 _It was true. Blake glanced down at herself, noting that her limbs had lengthened, her hair longer, her chest developed, and her height now towering over the blonde's petite form. She was an adult so soon._

 _There was a sharp pain in her upper abdomen, and Blake winced, falling to her knees as the throbs grew unbearably strong. With a gasp, a tiny Yang was by her feet, crawling on all fours as she tried to level a stare with her._

 _"Are you okay?" Her child version asked quickly. "Are you hurt?"_

 _"It's fine…" She lied. "I'm fine…"_

 _"Don't worry. I'll protect you!" The small blonde charged forward, daring herself to press her hands against Blake's stomach. She left them there, staring at her own fingers like their presence alone would make the difference. "I'll make the pain go away!"_

 _"You can't help me." Blake almost laughed, taking the girl's hands and pushing them away from her own. "You can't save me. You're just a child."_

 _"Just a child?" Big, purple eyes blinked at her in confusion. Then, they brightened, giggling at her as if she were being needlessly absurd._

 _"What are you talking about?" The blonde dissolved into laughter. "Look who's carrying you, you big dummy!"_

 _Her stomach lurched, and Blake felt her body rise, no, be lifted. She suddenly felt weightless, and for a second, the pain seemed to null. She peeked over her shoulders, taking in the sudden scent of citrus that drew her in. Warm arms embraced her, holding her up as her legs dangled off into the air. A grown woman looked down at her, gifting her with that inseparable radiance of hers.  
_

* * *

There was an explosion of water; it swept against her like a physical alarm, striking her back, her face, and eventually consuming her entire being.

Like a primal instinct, her hands searched. The moment her eyes opened again, Blake yearned for the warmth to return. It was fading away quickly, her body literally drowning as she departed from dreams into the grasps of reality.

The fear came to her like the wave, blinding her, arising panic. She felt the water around her become besmirched; a rat was digging through her stomach. She had been shot. There would be a gaping hole below her chest, and she would be bleeding; she would lose too much blood, she would go into shock. A creature amid the waters would smell her flesh, her bones, her delicate organs, and come for her, dine on her like a rare feast.

Her despairing hands found something in the ocean; it was spongy and malleable. There was still a hint of heat being emitted from it. She coughed up a mouthful of water, watching as the second passed, waiting for the object to fully surface.

It was a human body.

A fresh corpse, with a bullet wound straight through the man's forehead. She recognized the white uniform he wore, and saw the blankness of his expression. Her chords ripped out a vivid shriek, and unconsciously she kicked away from him, like a disease she wished to avoid, like a surreal future of her own that she didn't want to see.

It hurt to move. It tortured her to breathe. The water about her shifted wildly, reflecting her crazed will to defy gravity. Everything around her screamed: the sea, the wind, the sun.

She would not make it. She would drown. Her nose and mouth kept dipping, back and forth, between the thin line of life and death. She was hardly moving anymore and her movements were weak. Soon, her legs gave away and she felt her body grow senseless in defeat. How poetic, that this would be the end for her. The ocean would be her afterlife.

Her body sank, deeper and deeper, until she was entirely submerged. Her eyes squinted, staying open long enough to see the green murky water and the bubbles of her own descent. Then, they closed, and she was left in the darkness completely. It felt like someone was carving curses into her heart, nailing in a thick stake of wood. Her lungs were being scorched. Blake was tempted to open her mouth, but she knew that this fire would not be extinguished by water. Only air, she needed air.

She wished her brain ceased to work. If death were to happen, she hoped for it to happen soon, craving to have that sweet release of ignorance and that she could forget the reason why she was here. She had never experienced such an intense pain, such a ripping of the nerves, such an ache of the heart.

The spot of oxygen in her chest kept her conscious for a brief moment, and her muffled ears heard a rippling splash. There was a rush of force to her right, and something was pulling at her waist, tugging violently at her torso.

A shark! She instantly thought; Blake struggled, though the force was too strong. Then logic paved her way, and she remembered that sharks had only fins, not arms.

There was a dramatic burst, and a bit of light seeped through her shut eyelids. Her head was barely above the water, but she felt her nose burn, deciphering through the salt and the swallowed waters, to acknowledge the wondrous works of the worldly air.

No time for frozen shock. Something inside urged her to fight. She did not want to give up on life. It was bizarre, how she suddenly longed to live, when she had been apathetic about it for so long. There was nothing she could do about human instinct. It wasn't a question of courage. It was constitutional, an innate inability to let go. It made everything worse. She had never wished this badly to feel the rays of sunshine. It was a heavenly reminder. She was alive. She was human. And she needed to keep fighting.

She clung onto the sole thing that kept her afloat. Whatever it was, it was moving, struggling, sounding as if it were in as much pain and suffering as she was.

"Keep swimming!" It yelled at her. "Don't stop! Don't- We're almost there, Blake! We're almost there!"

She heard a low bump, and Blake assumed they had hit a large boulder. Rough hands grabbed her blind ones, leading them towards a harsh, leathery tension of a rope. Then, the presence disappeared, leaving her in a chasm of confusion.

"Hold on!" The same voice ordered at her from above. It was distant and dim, like her ears were plugged by something wet. Blake clung onto the cord like she was told, her body feeling less in control by the tiniest fleeting second.

From behind, a strong grip grabbed her by the shoulders, slithering underneath both her arms. There was an agonizing pull, and she felt her body be lifted with strain, the upper part of her figure finally leaving the wet strokes of the waves.

Another giant heave, and her legs dangled, the back of her body being scraped alongside a hard, dry structure. At last, her body dropped against a fully solid surface.

It wasn't land, as her body still swayed, left then right, like the sea. The roars of the ocean were evident.

Yet the wood underneath her was dry and hot, and she appreciated its lack of moisture. She coughed, and gasped, and choked - not knowing when the cycle would end, if it ever did.

A rough hand turned her around, placing her flat on her back. Her gasps worsened, and she experienced a gross, fuzzy feeling as the remaining water droplets dribbled out of her clogged ears.

She heard the tearing noise of fabric, and dimly noticed that the front of her shirt had been ripped open. A cold breeze grazed at her bare skin, and stung her like madness.

With a snap, something poured down her front; the liquid burned her, and this time, Blake had no choice but to scream, thrashing in pain as it raided into the sensitive pockets of her exposed skin. It smelled terrible, like a mixture of sulfur and alcohol.

Every hair on her was standing up, screeching in torment. A hand attempted to calm her, and there was a loud ringing in her ear, a plea she couldn't distinguish through the blur of pain. It must have been telling her to stop; a hard pressure came across her shoulder, pinning her down to the board with forceful extremity.

"It's okay! It's all right! I'm trying to help you- Let me help you! This is going to make it stop! Listen to me, Blake! This is going to make the pain stop!"

The chants did not work. It did little to deter her at all. She wanted to scream, and she would scream until it stopped. She would scream until she lost all her air.

"Trust me," the voice urged her. "Please!"

The request sounded wrong. Please? Please, what?

"Please… Please live."

The sudden weight of her exhaustion piled on top of her limbs. She felt her mind slip away, and even then, the pain did not stop.

* * *

It was amazing what one could hear, when alone in the darkness of an impending doom.

"Belladonna?" Someone called out to her. "Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Blake concluded that she had gone mad. It was probably not as uncommon as she thought, growing insane in the face of death. Misery loved company, and madness appeared to have brought it forth.

"Can you- Can you see me?" The voice came again, acting particularly insistent.

"…Who?" She managed to rasp back, and to her great surprise, Misery let out a happy sigh of relief.

"It's me." It was a woman, definitely a woman who answered her question. "The captain."

"Captain?" A bit of her mind cleared, and Blake concentrated, narrowing down the list of prospects. "…Weiss?"

There was a low grumble in reply to that.

"No, not her," grunted the female. "You must remember me, Lieutenant. I'm the far more attractive one."

What a puzzling argument; Blake couldn't even begin to think how this was supposed to be a lead to go on. She would have to open her eyes.

It was a slow, dull process, and everything else fell silent again. Between her efforts, she nearly fainted, but something prevented her from losing herself completely. She had heard that voice before, that undisguised claim of confidence.

When she finally pried her lids open, the world was hazy and blurry. The air felt so new to her that she instantly teared. Every border of her vision was being clouded, most of her sight spotted out by a black ink.

In the center, of what she could see, was the outline of a human figure. Her pupils adjusted, attempting to focus as she took in parts by parts.

A light, sandy-colored cape. An orange bandanna around her neck. A black piercing at the top corner of her right ear.

A set of pearly white teeth. A thick mane of blonde hair, slightly damp but never tamed, running wild and free.

"To call yourself attractive…" Blake furrowed her brows, turning pale as she registered the figure. "You're shameless, Captain Xiao Long."

"I am." The pirate couldn't seem to refrain from laughing at this rebuke. "How are you feeling?"

"...Like I've been shot." she managed to squeeze out another sentence. "Shot... I've been shot."

With the word, her muscles twitched involuntarily. A knot tied around her neck, the rapid clarity of her memories serving her plates of petrifying fear. Her body rocked with the ocean. She saw short sails, the color of wood, the blazing sun overhead, and the endless extent of deep emerald green waters. Blake's breaths hastened at once, and the pirate edged closer, growing apprehensive at the abrupt change.

"But you-" She gasped, just realizing the enormity of her savior's presence. "You- Where?"

"We're on a boat," Yang quickly explained, keeping their eyes locked as to exhume a source of comfort for her. "Don't worry. We're alone. You're safe now."

"Not… I meant..." Her logic was garbled. She struggled to practice proper diction. "Why- Why are you here?"

"That's hardly a thing to say to someone who just saved your life."

"My life… Exactly." Even she, the speaker, could only make out a few words from her voice. "Why?"

The pirate fidgeted on her rear, glancing between Blake and the sea as she tugged on the boat's ropes.

"I saw you, by coincidence, at the sea port," the blonde began with a level of caution. "You weren't wearing your usual uniform, and you were carrying a suitcase, catching a ship headed towards the south. I wasn't sure what you were up to. Curiosity got the better of me, and I followed you on board."

"You almost caught me watching." Yang flinched on her own, like she was afraid of retribution. "I hid behind a corner, in case you noticed, and then- And then I watched as that man..."

There was a definite rage, and a wild possessive sense to her words, as if someone had broken a precious belonging of the pirate's. Regardless, the story didn't answer Blake's question. The anger didn't either.

"But why?" She croaked again. She needed a reason. Without it, she would be driven insane by her own inventive mind.

"I did it because it was you," said the pirate, with an untamed expression of affections. "And if you were to die, I don't know what I would do with myself."

There she was. One of the most infamous pirates of the century, the face of revolution by the oppressed, smiling down at her like she wouldn't trade her in for the world, not for a castle, not for a chest of jewels, not even for a second chance at life.

Blake couldn't allow herself to understand. The memory, the memory of the young child returned to her, more clearly than ever before.

"...Do I carry that much value to you?"

"Of course." An intense fondness gazed over her. "You are my greatest treasure."

She wished to ask for more, but the pirate stood on her feet, shedding off her long beige jacket. She placed it over Blake's shoulders, like a thick woolly blanket.

"Rest for now," the pirate instructed. "We can talk later."

* * *

In the morning, Blake could not move. Pinned by a daunting sensation of weakness, she felt the emptiness of her insides and yet had no cravings for any sustenance. Even thinking was exhausting, but she applied herself to the bare minimum task. There was a need for three thoughts in order to come together again.

The day was unlike the previous one, cool and overcast, the clouds low, the wind strong. That was one.

The boat was shaking more than usual, that was another.

The popping sound of a lid, and then a short swish of a drink. Blake turned, finding the blonde sitting on top of the bow, staring off into the distance with a dark bottle in her hands. The third, most important, reminder of her current existence.

"What are you drinking?"

The pirate nearly fell over into the water, spewing out a bit of substance as she pivoted on her bottom. Wide lilac eyes brightened towards her. "You- You're awake!"

"How long has it been since…?" The rest of Blake's words faded into a low murmur. She asked with much difficulty. It was a single question, but to utter it was a completely different manner. A thousand daggers were upon her, stabbing her each time she spoke a solid syllable.

"A day and a half," the blonde told her speedily. "Don't worry, I'll get us to land soon. You'll be able to see a proper doctor there."

Blake tried to sit up, but her lungs unexpectedly convulsed, forcing her to let out a string of morbid coughs instead.

"Don't." The blonde seized her promptly, a firm hand landing on her shoulder as to keep her steady. "Don't move so much. You wouldn't want your wounds to reopen."

Her wound. She grimaced at the unintentional reminder. "How- How bad is it?"

She had been too tired to check her conditions before. Even with the most generous calculations, her situation couldn't be too good.

With an untimely pause, Yang's lips flattened into a formidable line, and Blake managed to catch a single breath, this time being able to do it without a spasm. She took the silence to mean its worst, and without waiting for a proper reply, Blake took matters into her own hands. With a slight shudder, she reached out her fingers, her own nails feeling so cold against the side of her skin. There was a white cloth wrapped around her stomach, and the place of injury, to her accurate prediction, was still seeped through with red.

"It's not as bad as it looks," said the pirate, quietly. "I made sure to clean it before dressing it, so that there won't be any infections."

"…Thank you." Blake didn't know what else to say, feeling numb as she allowed her shirt to fall back, covering up the gruesome sight. Her head felt awfully light, as if the image of her injury brought along a set of nausea and blood loss.

"I don't understand." The blonde looked at her once, her brow creased. "What happened to you? I thought you were on their side. Why would you allow that soldier to attack you?"

From the delivery, Blake could tell that the pirate had been meaning to ask this from the beginning, but had withheld it until she was feeling well enough to answer. If she weren't so tired, the girl would have rolled her eyes. She had hardly "allowed" the man to maim her. She had been caught off guard, by phantoms of the pirate sitting before her, to be exact. Even so, Blake knew better than to speak of this, and her head ached too much to consider between the cause and the effect.

"I left," she said simply.

"You left?" Yang echoed her like a parrot.

"Yes," she mumbled, not being able to conceal the bitter spite. "They seemed to have trouble believing that it was for innocent reasons rather than a dubious one..."

The blonde scratched the side of her chin, sincerely curious as she asked: "What did they think you were up to?"

"That I would join your side." Blake laughed at the idea. "Become a pirate."

"Oh. But- But you weren't planning on doing what they thought?" Yang stammered. She appeared taken aback by the response, nearly embarrassed by her own excitement. It didn't quite touch her, though she appreciated the sentiment.

"Don't get your hopes up, Captain Xiao Long." Blake shot her down with an unapologetic smirk. "You're not that tempting of a prize."

"…Well, I hope you know that your words cut into me like a knife." In reply, Yang sniffled, putting a hand over her chest in an exaggerated show of pain. "I'm so deeply wounded, I think I might jump overboard for a swim and never come back!"

"How dramatic of you." Blake chuckled, tackling on another oncoming wheeze as she watched the blonde with intrigue. "Have you always been this chatty?"

"I'm surprised you even have to ask," the blonde teased.

"Hmm…" She noticed the bottle in Yang's hands again. "I asked what it is you were drinking before." From the scent of her breath, Blake knew it wasn't water.

"Rum," the pirate answered her, peering into the drinking hole as she wore a glum frown. "Sadly, there's not much of it left."

"…I see."

"You like it, don't you?" Yang recalled. "I smelt it on you the last time we met. It surprised me, you know. I thought you would have a taste for something much classier."

"Classier?" Blake frowned at the implication. "I'm an ex-slave."

"You never stole a sip of wine? You never smuggled a bottle of the best brandy there is?" There was a look of incredulity on the pirate's face. "My god, where do your priorities lie, Lieutenant Belladonna? That's the first thing I would have done if I worked at a rich man's house."

"Well... I suppose I missed my chance."

"You sound tired." Yang was quick to recognize her exhaustion. "Are you falling asleep again?"

With little energy, she managed a nod. The blonde wore a small pout, looking as though she was a child being told to go to bed several minutes earlier than usual. It was a nice, lasting image to hold on to, as Blake closed her eyes.

Yang seemed to stew on her own for a minute, apparently dissatisfied over how abruptly their banter had ended.

"Don't be asleep for too long," the blonde demanded of her. "I hate being in silence."

* * *

Her senses reawakened in coordinated stages. Like always, thirst was the first for her to perceive.

The pain felt better, by a minuscule amount. It would be odd now, for it to suddenly vanish. She had grown used to waking up, feeling one step away from being buried underground. Like the eye of a storm, after an eerie instant of peace, disaster would always strike.

There was something rigid in her chest, like a dense object burrowing into her bloodstream. In a state of strange detachment, Blake had a moment to consider about the exit wound. Then, her hearing returned.

She listened to the soft susurrus of voices. It came in a collective rhythm, talking quietly to someone who didn't reply.

They were still on the boat. Her nose unplugged, flowing in the smell of must and fish, matching the loud lullabies of the ocean. Blake stayed unmoving, afraid of what damage she might inflict if she did. Her body was like lead, fixed to its one indefinite spot.

"Are you still in slumber?"

Against her wishes, Blake couldn't answer, her lips having been clamped with an eternal dryness. Her silence fooled the pirate, who sighed to herself in open disappointment.

"I feel like a fool talking to myself," Yang complained, and Blake heard a distant plunk. She wondered what the blonde was tossing, but her eyelids felt glued as well.

"You have no idea how hard you have made things for me, Blake," the blonde said, talking to herself as if she were speaking to a real audience.

There was another plunk, and Blake stayed in slight apprehension, wondering if the blonde would be saying this if she knew her to be awake. Her intrusion grew even worse when the blonde climbed near her, clambering into the adjoining section. Her body radiated like a heater.

"I had a sister once," Yang began the tale in a hush. "She was two years younger than me, and we were inseparable. We used to run around the island together, dressing up in our father's clothes, pretending to be pirates and talking of taking over the world. It didn't matter if we were just kids."

A hard swallow ran down her throat. "But one day, when we were hungry and starving… We decided to sneak out of the house and steal some food. There was a small bakery opened in the outskirts of town. But… We were inexperienced. We were caught. And as you're well aware, there are no exceptions to the law, not even to children."

A broken admission followed. "She died, and I survived."

Blake's breaths stilled, a chill condensing in her chest.

"...Shot straight through the heart as we were running... I could do nothing but hold her hand as she... She was only seven. Too young- Too young to say goodbye."

It was near impossible to hear the last parts of that sentence, as the pirate grew emotional. She was on the verge of tears, and if she could, Blake would have comforted her in a gracious embrace.

"You reminded me of her, when we first met," the blonde divulged, when she could steady herself. "Broken. Lost... I tried to return, to visit you the next day, but you were gone."

The reason for her compassion hadn't been pity; it was empathy.

"The first time I saw you again," Yang called to mind, "was on my seventeenth birthday… It was late at night, and I saw you from across the bay. You were sitting by yourself on the docks, crying. Your tears, actually, helped me remember you."

There was a short pause, and then a murmur of disagreement.

"No, that's a lie," the blonde immediately corrected herself. "I've always remembered you. I've always remembered you, Blake. I kept our promise close to my heart."

Blake laid on her spine, her eyes remaining tightly closed. It didn't seem to matter to the pirate; in a way, it must have made the story easier to tell.

"That night, I didn't sleep. I wondered if you were still in chains. I wondered why you were crying. I called for you. I repeated your name at least a thousand times. I wondered if you bothered to remember the name that I had given you."

With the scuffling of shoes, the blonde shifted away from her again. Blake bit back a whimper; it felt colder, much colder, without her presence nearby.

"The second time was along the eastern seaboard," the voice recommenced, with a more sullen undertone. "You were wearing the uniform of the Royal Navy…"

She heard a short scoff, and Blake knew exactly why.

"I didn't know what to think of it," said the blonde, quite bitterly. "You were serving the people who murdered my sister. The same people who put you in chains. I was angry. Heartbroken. Disappointed… I almost shot you right away to be honest. I didn't lose you. No. You chose to leave me on purpose."

There was a slight quiver in her lips, and Blake prayed that the other would not notice.

"But then… I heard them call you by your name." The tightness eased gradually. "Lieutenant Blake Belladonna, they called you… I felt it light a spark in my heart. What made you change your mind, Blake? Remind me to ask you when you're awake."

It was a beautiful sound, of hope, of buoyant optimism. Blake couldn't help it, she couldn't withstand it any longer. With minimal courage, she opened her heavy eyes, keeping them squinted in a level of secretive caution. Thankfully, the blonde was choosing not to look her way.

"My father's always been a part of the rebellion. Pirates, they called us. And pirates we would become. We stole to give back to the poor. We fought to see another day of sunlight. And by the third time we met, I had taken over my father's role and was the captain of my own ship." Her face set into a grim and determined expression. "And the third time… The third time was when we were finally able to speak. I purposefully chose the ship that you were on. I wanted to meet you. I wanted to see how you were."

Blake remembered the encounter clearly, like it had been yesterday. It was an ineradicable kind of a meeting, impossible to forget the minute she saw the shadow emerge from underneath the dim light. A female pirate, with a poignant smile and an unloaded pistol.

"You said one word to me that day." Yang seemed to recoil, folding into herself as she embraced the memory. "Murderer."

A shiver of ice ran through her. Blake wished she could have blamed it on the sea.

"I knocked you out cold." Yang looked downwards, into the empty spaces of the boat. "And then, I ran."

Her fingers folded around her arms, nails gripping into her skin, shaking in leftover anger and disbelief.

"A murderer? Me? Hah!" The blonde let out a cold, unfitting laugh. "How many lives have _they_ taken away from us? How many innocent souls have _they_ neglected, beaten, and starved? It wasn't murder. It was justice! We were doing the world justice!"

Tension rose to an unbearable degree.

"I was fighting for our freedom! And yet you- You did nothing but erase the memory between us! All you left behind was your name, a name you claimed to have despised in the beginning..."

She almost reached out, risking to startle the blonde, to break the pirate out of her demoralizing trance. Nevertheless, she knew, Blake knew that these words must be said aloud, and that she – under whatever circumstances – were to listen to them.

Blake waited a second, as the weather took her away, a tuneful breeze answering to her call instead. The waves slowly calmed, turning smooth as they splashed at the heel.

"There are no right or wrong people in this world," Yang spoke without emotion. "Just survivors."

The blonde's hands, which had been curled into two white fists, released themselves. "I'm sick of battling this war."

"Freedom. I desire it too," the pirate admitted, allowing her body to sag in defeat. "I know I claimed to have found it, but I don't know… I don't know if I have enough of it to give to you."

It was a burden. A burden she had chosen to carry the whole way through.

"If you-" Yang stopped herself. "After you survive this… I promise, Blake. I will never let them hurt you ever again. I swear upon it with my life."

The two drifted together along the waters, drifting towards a calming sunset. Both of them rested soundlessly for once, basking in the absence of noise as they approached the red horizon.

A vicious fever came only with the morning.


	46. The Ocean Is Big and Blue (Part 4)

The day of her "freedom" came abruptly, with no build up or a climax. It barely felt like a day out of the ordinary. She had been favored by the Schnee family, a notoriously famous and influential household among the kingdoms. She was different. She excelled at all her given tasks. She had knowledge from books she read in secret. She had potential, but the demeanor of a slave – an ideal trait of a man's servant, she supposed. The young heiress of the mansion found something in the depth of her eyes, a value worth harnessing.

When the shackles broke, the slave did not flinch. She didn't breath. She didn't laugh. She didn't as so much as smile. Her legs still felt heavy. Even without the chains, she could not run. She had forgotten how.

One day, a week after her release, she was brought in front of her former master. The man of privilege; he asked if she would continue to work for his youngest daughter. She could do nothing but nod. There was no other way she knew how to live than that.

He asked what she would like to be called. The girl blinked, not comprehending the inquiry.

"Your name," the man had reiterated. "You need a name."

She still didn't understand, but knew better than to question his authority.

Why? She would have liked to ask. Why now? How have the circumstances changed? What was wrong with calling her by her previous titles? Why not "girl" or "you" or even just "slave." With the nobility, it was always just business. Everything had rules and customs. She would learn this quickly enough.

"Blake," she had answered.

It came, without an indication of an origin. Yet she felt it crawl out from her insides, echoing in her mind like a sole voice in an empty chamber.

"I wish to be called Blake," she had decided.

Only now, did she remember why it must have been so.

* * *

The morning felt wrong.

The weather had calmed, to a point of deadly stillness. The wind had petered out and died. Everything suffered. Everything became sun-bleached and weather-beaten. The ball of fire above their heads drained rather than shined. It felt as though her entire body had been robbed of moisture.

For once, Yang was asleep, her head lulling to the side as she remained sitting next to her. Blake squinted through the rays, shimmering brightly across the horizon. The light pained her, hurting her retinas. Her head spun to no rhythm she could fathom. It wasn't the churns of the sea. It wasn't the motion of the ocean wind; it was erratic and ruthless.

A violent urge to vomit swelled inside her; Blake shivered, crawling into a smaller ball as she tried to quell her stomach. She had never been sick before, not on calm waters such as these. A piercing burn ran across her when she moved. The jacket slid off of her body, and despite the sun, she felt even colder.

Something raced within her, rumbling dangerously, until she realized it was the sound of her own heart: rapid and short. There was a dull ringing in both her ears, and she pressed one against the wood, hoping that it would stop, wishing for the world to go silent once more.

Amid the pool of dizziness, a desperate thought visited her mind. An idea, fresh from the point of pain. Blake lifted her head to be certain of her choices. The pirate was still resting; this would be a rare opportunity to seek out the truth for herself.

She lowered her chin. Then, with careful trepidation, she eased through her dressings, trying to lift the white fabric by a minuscule amount. Blake bit down on her tongue, feeling the sharp tinges of the material grazing against the gash. She breathed with difficulty, moving her eyes onto her stomach. The surrounding area of it was already red and sweaty.

Immediately, she saw the sickly color of yellow. Bits of skin were rippled around the edges, marked in shades of red, black, and yellow. The shape of the hole was no longer recognizable, flays of leftover flesh had swollen around it.

Her voice was lost. Even if she did remember how to utter words, there was nothing she would be able to say. She had seen injuries like these before. She had seen what they took from their victims - those who were left in the sick bay below the deck, tended to but never cared for, not when the other seafarers knew what fates were in store for them. An unpleasant, ugly end. She would meet one of them quite soon.

It wasn't injustice. It was not a lack of compassion or empathy. It was simply the way things were. There was little anyone could do for treatment, not on a small sailing boat in the middle of nowhere.

"This is it," somebody said from a retired corner. "I'm dying."

Blake blinked, believing that her ears were deceiving her. The sound hadn't been from the pirate, and there was nobody else on the boat but herself. "Who was that?" She asked with a tense edge.

"I'm me, and I'm you," the person echoed, and there seemed to be a deep throbbing coming from her head, like a physical confirmation.

"Am I speaking to myself now?" Blake laughed weakly. "How reassuring."

"Always a good sign, isn't it?" replied the same, assertive voice. Blake had no idea she was capable of being so mocking.

"I don't need this. I don't wish to go mad with my own thoughts," she conceded bitterly. "I just want it to be quick."

"But I'm not ready for death," the other part of her complained, sounding petty, sounding weak and afraid.

"It's not like there is a choice," Blake said thickly. "The wound's been infected. My blood, poisoned. There's nothing I can do about that."

"Try waking the pirate," came a suggestion. "She might know what to do."

"No." It was a firm, solemn refusal. "She doesn't need to know."

"She can help."

"I don't want her to."

Her inner self let out an indignant snort. "Why am I always so stubborn, in the most vapid, self-destructive manner?"

"I'm not being stubborn," she retorted sharply. "I'm being reasonable. She's done enough for me. There's no need to burden her with more."

"That's right," the voice suddenly agreed. "She's too selfless! She's _too_ kind! She'll keep making promises that she can't keep. It's illogical. It's pointless."

"That is how she is." Blake frowned in slight dissent. "Her honor is what kept me alive for so long."

"But I didn't ask for it, did I?" came a rather sour dispute.

"It doesn't matter." She shook her head. "I'm thankful for it."

"It gave only false hope!"

"It gave hope," she insisted with a rigid stance. "That is enough."

"...She's a fool," her persona made its final argument. "She's a fool whose blood will be on your hands if this relationship continues."

"She will not die. I will not stand for it," Blake fought back endlessly. "There cannot be any more sacrifices on her part. I am going to make sure of it."

"…Huh." The voice became resigned. "Well, I suppose I am a much bigger fool than I led myself to believe."

* * *

The next time she regained awareness, she awoke to the warmest palette of the sky's spectrum.

"It's been a while," the blonde sighed, her face softening into a lapse of pure happiness, "since I saw the color of your eyes."

"I missed yours more," confessed Blake, relying on the darkness to hide the heat of her cheeks. Her voice cracked, sounding raspy and thin. The pirate stumbled forward, holding up a small burlap sack in her hands.

"You need water," she observed. "You must be thirsty."

The blonde leaned closer, allowing Blake to catch a whiff of her hair as she leaned forward. Yang moved her right arm, curving it around the nape of her neck as she helped Blake raise her head.

It was a cool, chilly contact. In return, a long, hidden moan escaped from Blake's chest. The blonde beside her stirred, glancing down at her in mild amusement.

"Is it wrong for me to have been aroused by that?"

Despite her discomfort, Blake couldn't help but laugh.

"…I believe so," she answered, hoping that she was able to muster up a smirk in response. It was hard to feel the muscles on her face, after having been unconscious for so long. But then, the pirate's grin widened, and Blake knew that she must have done right.

She drank slowly from the pouch, making sure she left plenty enough behind. With a tiny groan, Blake was settled back down onto the wooden board. Yang stayed close to her, picking up her coat and placing it over her body again, wrapping her with it like a warm protective blanket.

"You're very pretty in the moonlight," Blake mumbled, before she could think to stop herself. Her feeble fingers reached forward, staggering in awe at the golden sign. "It's like being able to see the sun and the moon together at once."

With a sudden level of curiosity and mischief, Blake poked her. It almost felt like jelly, as her index sank into the pirate's cheek. A short giggle escaped from her chapped lips. The blonde laughed as well; her innocence shone brilliantly, and Blake begged it to stay.

Only now did she realize just how thinly the pirate always dressed. Her stomach lay exposed, revealing a nicely tanned skin all around. A black tattoo ran down her hips. Her trousers hung loosely around her waist, revealing lines of agonizing temptations.

The orange bandanna she usually wore tied back her hair into a beautiful knot, attracting attention to her sharp, clean neck.

She didn't know where her energy spiked came from. There was a surge of spirit, a raw bodily vigor pumping through her veins. She felt abnormally cheery, aloft even, as her heaviest inhibitions remained tied to the ground as she floated above. Her injury couldn't keep her blind for so long. Now, she would not be deprived of judgment.

She wanted it. She craved it. Blake had thought this over, countless times.

Oh, she remembered her dreams now. The pirate persisted in her mind like an infinite summer, enticing her at every turn with its heat, and maybe, just maybe, Blake would finally dare to be burned.

"What…" Yang's smile faltered. "What is it?"

She leaned on her in turn; the hunger for her empowered her, the instinct undeniable. Blake's body jerked wildly, breath emptying out of her lungs as she pulled with might.

The boat shifted as the blonde fell forward towards the gunnel, stopping herself in time of suffocation. Her gasp shattered the silence, and Blake lunged forward, taking the pirate in a blazing kiss.

The blonde immediately melted; her stiff, rigid body relaxing, inviting her in with that taste of sweet bondage. Yang's weight grounded them, and for several seconds they knew not when to stop.

Bliss hit her like a ton of bricks, tearing at her, burrowing at her insides as it risked an explosion. They sank down together, immune to the screams of self-control. Blake moaned, trying to swallow through her throat, which felt like sandpaper. Sweat broke out over her with a vividly sickening flush. Yet, she was hardly sane enough to care. Her onslaught was powerful. Her passions, feral.

If this wasn't an adventure, she didn't know what was. Blake clasped her arms over the blonde's neck, bracing herself as she explored the pirate's mouth. There was the start of a struggle as the minutes ran deeper.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked breathlessly, her vision filled with nothing but the captivating gaze of purple.

"I don't-" Yang said through a period of pants. "I don't understand- What is it that we're doing?"

"You seem to know exactly what you're doing, Captain."

There was a bit of a splutter, as the blonde appeared a little too flabbergasted to respond with coherence. Then her lips drooped into a suspicious frown, as if she could hardly believe this reaction to be real. The blonde loomed over her again, placing a calloused hand over her bangs. Yang's face, immediately, plummeted.

"You have a fever," came a despondent, listless tone. "I knew you were acting strangely."

"No, I don't," Blake fought her on the matter. "I'm simply aroused by your figure."

There was a temporary pause of shock, and then...

"I think you're delirious," said the pirate, in a reluctantly flustered demeanor.

"That's not very flattering, Captain." Blake frowned in disappointment. "I wonder if it is I who should be initiating the foreplay now. If you are suddenly so incapable of being charming?"

"You're…" Yang gawked at her. "You're witty at the oddest of times, Lieutenant Belladonna."

Had it been that strange of a moment? Blake wasn't sure. Looking up to the sky, she felt her breathing slow, believing this to have been a perfectly romantic scenery. The moon was a sharply defined crescent. The sea was fair, the sky clear. There were stars out tonight, a single light too many to call it dark.

But the blonde's expression had faded, and with it, the mood of hilarity also vanished.

Blake remembered where they were, stranded in the middle of the ocean. She didn't need any other reminders than the burning sensation around the front of her shirt.

For a minute, they shared nothing but silence. Blake allowed her thoughts to consume her, the volume of the surrounding air and water helped her reach a final clarity.

It was odd, indeed. Blake knew what the pirate had meant now. She was dying – the blonde must have noticed this as well. In death, even the most reserved people grew honest and frank. And in the final instants of her life, Blake had chosen to flirt.

Yes. It was odd, and Blake laughed to herself about it, not caring who heard her, not the fishes, the sharks, the whales, the gods, not even the pirate. Her mind was already beginning to unravel; it would make no difference whatsoever.

"This isn't right," the pirate murmured again. "I don't want to… Not like this. Not when you're too ill to know what it is that you want."

"Not now?" Blake countered with repetition. "Then when?"

"…What?"

"If not now, then when?" She forced a smile, appearing more deranged than anything else.

The pirate wore a blank expression, growing paler at a question thrown in such a light, casual manner.

"Exactly when do you imagine us to be together?" Blake hummed to herself at the notion. "Once I have made a full recovery? Once we arrive upon land?"

"…I don't know," grunted the pirate. "I haven't thought much about it."

"That's a lie. I'm sure you have, Captain. And even you, the fascinatingly optimistic person that you are, can't think of a proper answer," Blake argued on with a laugh. "You're a marked name. Your face is on every wanted poster issued by the Royal Navy. How are we ever supposed to be together in peace? Will you keep me locked away in that pirate ship of yours? Will I become your new second in command?"

"Stop," Yang demanded irritably, unwilling to admit that Blake may have a point. "You're not making any sense right now. I refuse to talk to you when you're acting like this."

"I'm making much more sense than you are, Captain," she insisted again. "I'm not ill. I've been shot. My mind is perfectly intact. I know that I am dying. There is no other time. We're hundreds of miles away from land. We're low on food. We're low on water. If you're lucky, I'll be dead by the next nightfall."

"I said stop it, Belladonna." Yang's eyes grew rather cold. "I do not wish to hear more."

"Well, I don't wish to be a burden. I don't wish for you to suffer as well, that is what I wish," Blake answered, with a noise caught somewhere between a growl and a rough chuckle. "You should have just allowed me to drown."

"I would have never done such a thing," the pirate stated calmly.

"That's right." Blake internally warmed at the comment. "Because you are such a noble pirate, Captain Xiao Long."

"I will get us to land," Yang claimed, evidently finding nothing humorous anymore. "I swear upon it on-"

"Your life, yes," Blake finished her words, staring at her with a breathless and disbelieving expression. "Why do you continue to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make promises that you can't keep?"

"Who says I won't keep them?" Yang retaliated, seeming heavily wounded.

If the downcast look in the pirate's eyes were relevant to anything, then Blake suspected that Yang had been torn up about her lack of faith. But no- This wasn't about the level of trust. In fact, Blake trusted the blonde too much. She knew exactly what the pirate was capable of; and that was what worried her the most.

"Captain." Blake eventually dropped her smile as well. "Please."

"It's the only thing I can do," the pirate drawled out cautiously. She averted her gaze for a moment in shame. "If I don't have an oath to keep, a person to fight for, then I will have no reason to live."

"...Then I have an important request to ask of you."

The blonde narrowed her gaze contemplatively, but didn't inquire further.

"Promise me that you will live for yourself, and nobody else," asked Blake in an earnest imploration. "Promise me that, Captain."

"…I cannot."

"And why is that?" Blake almost broke, her mind barely sticking together through the fever. Amber eyes waned, her early worries creeping back into them.

"Because my life isn't worth fighting for," Yang said distantly, wearing a dangerously glassy-eyed expression. "Yours is."

Blake felt a hollow laugh escape from her chest.

"Do you understand the full extent of what you are saying? You will die," she told her, scrounging up enough anger for the pirate in return. "I will, most definitely, become the death of you, Captain."

"I don't care," the pirate said quietly. "It doesn't matter."

She closed her mouth, any effective retort dying at the tunnel of her throat. Somehow, Blake knew this is how the conversation would end. If it must be so, then Blake had only one other alternative option. There was a voice resonating in the back of her mind, unlike the other one she fought with this morning. This one was not so much as a conversation, but a single word. A resolution. She was dazed by the answer it gave, nearly thunderstruck by the true sense it provided. But not afraid. No, not ever.

"It matters to _me_. Because I would never forgive myself if you were to die at my hands," Blake whispered, the strength of her facade fading rapidly. "I didn't mean what I said before. Actually, if it were at all possible, I would have spent the rest of my life by your side, whether it be the life of a pirate or a fugitive."

Yang did nothing but gape at her, dumbfounded.

"I do remember you. I remember you, Captain," Blake finally confessed, not wanting to waste more of their precious time. "You were the one who gave me my name."

There was a fraction of concern in the pirate's eyes, as if she had already read the reasoning behind this admission. Blake felt silly, having taken so long to recognize the stare. She had grown up with it. She had been her dream, her childhood fantasy; her innocent youth.

"I heard you asking in the darkness, asking about why I changed my mind," Blake went on nonetheless. "To be honest, there was no special reason to the decision. I kept the name because it came to me like water. It… It felt natural. It felt right. Now, I realize, it was because it reminded me of hope. Your promise gave me hope. I was wrong to call you a m- murderer before... You never took anything away. All you ever gave me was life itself."

She paused for a second, catching air, overwhelmed by a tide of grievous sentiments. The only thing worse than death was the wait. An oncoming death, with time to spare. A time in which Blake could see the results of her past, allowing her to stand where she stood today. It was when she could see all the happiness that could have been hers if she were to stay, and how beautiful life became once it came to its unceremonious ending. She drank in the sight, with as much lucidity as she could possibly hold until she lost it all.

"You promised that you would return to me, and you did," she murmured, her face crumbling at the memory. "Not once, but numerous times before. I'm sorry I couldn't remember you until now. You… You and I… We're so different from how we used to be."

The pirate's face fell, and her beauty drowned, being swallowed by a sea of sadness. Blake fought hard not to look away, knowing that this would be her last, and to lose even a small flicker of it would be another action to regret.

"You've already done as you said you would. There's no need to do more. I am no longer your battle to fight for."

There was a look of exhaustion on the pirate's face, taking away from her, inch by inch every day, and it sickened her, its sight made Blake ill with guilt.

They must be running out of their rations; there were never plenty enough to begin with. The pirate, though confident, was always reckless and hasty. There was no trace of land nearby, nor did the captain seem to carry a map. A jolly boat was tiny and sharp, yet slower and harder to steer. There was no way for them to survive this together. There was no need for it at all. Without a load, an extra mouth to feed, the chances of survival doubled. Only one of them would have to be selfish enough to arrive at this conclusion.

"You must leave me." Though they shook, Blake made sure her words were loud and clear. "I'm… I'm not fit for travel any longer."

There was silence, a heavy silence.

"In my pocket… There is a knife..." Blake halted a moment and then slid her left hand towards her torso. She felt in her waist pocket; there was the familiar handle of a blade.

The blonde did not move, frozen in her prior spot, like a still statue or a corpse. The only response she received was a twitch, the pupils of her company growing larger in latent realization.

"When we were younger, you once promised to grant me my freedom," Blake spoke, her voice barely audible. "Please. Do it now."

A sunburst of pain exploded in the pirate's face. All the blood drained out of her visage, and her lips grew blue, trembling in a kind of fear Blake never wished to see again. The pain struck her, searing her with a blade of heartbreaking anguish.

"No," Yang finally choked.

"Captain," Blake pleaded. "This is the only way."

"I cannot!" The blonde cried, in a quick, suppressed tone. "I- I will not!"

"...If you are unwilling, then I will end this myself."

"No!"

The dagger slipped out of her hands, stripped away by the pirate, who had gotten to her feet, standing up in a fit of rage and confusion. The boat shook with the movement, and the wind suddenly shifted, blowing against them with equal ferocity.

Yang heaved, clenching hard onto the blade with a look of the deepest loathing. Then, with her entire body, the blonde threw it. The dagger flew a few meters, shimmering in the dark for a second, before plunking into the black waters.

"I… I will never allow that to happen," the pirate repeated quietly, losing her momentum as she saw the knife drown, the ripples fading into rings of nothingness. "Never."

The blonde moved away from her, choosing to sit down at the farthest opposite side of the boat. Her shoulders were shaking, but she made no sound. With her back turned, the pirate said no more.

The boat creaked loudly, and the waves seemed to do nothing but crash and foam, like a torrent of utter indifference.

By the end of it, Blake felt worse than she possibly could. She knew better, but she closed her eyes nonetheless.


	47. The Ocean Is Big and Blue (Part 5)

Funnily enough, it rained all night.

The weather acted as fickle as the ocean, deciding that there was a sudden need for more water. The change was always so abrupt and radical. Thick droplets pelted the surface of her bare skin. The sails did little to block the descending water, and Blake had left the pirate's jacket untouched on the bottom of the boat.

The last time Blake had seen Yang's face was the argument. From then on, the blonde hardly moved from the bow of the boat, only allowing the other to catch short glimpses of her somber back.

The drizzle made a dull drumming sound around her. Now, its tune remained her only audible companion.

Tap, tap, tap...

Even the weather seemed to be hissing at her, discriminating her for her own faults. A shift in the wind switched the direction of the rain, soaking parts of her that had been preserving warmth.

Yet the wetness, nor the dryness, none of it mattered to her any longer. She sensed nothing, and Blake prayed that the numbness would last until the end. It would be nature's form of a gracious anesthesia. She should be so lucky to experience it.

All she now perceived was the cold. The rising of every wave, the feeling of every chill washing over her like an airborne river. Even the sea, the rain, felt warmer than her. The air was damp, yet humid, like a silent suffocating layer. However, she lay there shivering, as if her entire body were defective. The effect of her wounds spread through her with perverse determination.

The rain grew stronger and the sea rougher as the night progressed. The ropes to the sails moved with a jerk, and the rocking of the boat became more pronounced and erratic.

Its motion forced her to drink; the rain tasted mostly pure, the salt quickly rinsed out by the scratchiness of her throat. She allowed her mind to wander, which turned out to be much more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. A minute at a time, her vision flickered, first to black, then to white, then to a clear blue universe, appearing so vast that it was close enough to touch.

In erratic flashes, her consciousness slipped, seeming to exit her body entirely, only to be sucked back in by a force of terrible tenacity. At one point, she could have sworn to have been floating, watching the ocean below churning, with the life boat carrying her soulless body.

Other times, she found herself in paradise, with images of vacant daydreams one would have on a gentle summer evening: a turquoise colored sea and a white, sandy beach, an entire forest of coconut trees, ripe with juicy fruits, and a blanket full of stars to cover them during the night.

Her mind wandered towards familiar faces. She wondered about the smallest, insignificant details. That man, with the lovely scones, would he have reached his doting family by now? Would Vasilias still be sleeping on the job, always one small step away from earning a lecture from-

Weiss. What of her? Suppose her only friend had received the message by now - that she would never return for that visit she so earnestly promised. Their last exchange, a bitter farewell, would be the two's final memory of each other. If she had known this, Blake would have acted differently. She would have engulfed the prideful woman in a grateful, comforting, apologetic, complicated embrace of emotions.

What sort of sea was this? It was a sea of fond memories. It was a sea of regrets. Blake could only register this as a wholesomely new discovery, the strangest voyage she had ever encountered so far.

Blake kept her ears leveled to the ocean surface. The wood hardly felt existent anymore; if anything, the barrier had long since disappeared, and she moved fluidly with the waters. She listened to every drip, every fizz, and every bubble.

From a close distance, she could hear a loud splashing of water.

Blake wondered if it had been a whale. There was a slight rocking of the boat from the rolling ripples, and then another long period of silence.

"Captain?" Blake wasn't sure why she called for her, but she did it out of primitive instinct. It was quiet, too quiet, and Blake swallowed a thick mixture of saliva and remorse. She had set this upon herself, yet the burden of it grew unimaginably heavy.

"Captain Xiao Long?" She tried again, when there was no answer. Perhaps she hadn't been loud enough. A sudden sickening feeling formed at the back of her throat.

Her brain screamed in uncontrollable panic, like it usually did when it was deprived of oxygen. She didn't notice that she had been holding her breath, waiting in tense suspension for a response. There was no doubt, the pirate was always extreme in her ways. Infamous for it, Blake might add. After all, she jumped off a ship to save her ungrateful life. What if... What if the splash had been nearer than she perceived? What if the pirate had been telling the truth, that a life absent of purpose meant that it wasn't a life worth living at all?

"…Yang?" Blake gasped, releasing the name like an urgent letter, like a canary into the dark depths of the cave.

Her hands stumbled forth, grappling onto the ridges of the boat, attempting to lift her weight so that she could see past the sun. Something- Anything-

"I'm here."

An answer came to her, weak and weary, but it was there nonetheless. Blake struggled to raise her chin, not realizing how badly she needed the confirmation, the affirmation that she wasn't a mirage, that she hadn't been tricked by some desperate hallucination. Her breaths were cut short as the boat again shifted, echoing the motion of dismal thumps.

A figure emerged like an eclipse, filling her whole vision.

"Stop moving," came an order, strong yet gentle like before.

"I thought you left…" Blake panted, feeling her body ease back in pain at the blonde's presence.

"Leave you?" Yang chuckled to herself. "I've only just found you again."

Her laugh sounded hollow. She appeared so tired.

"I'm not going anywhere," the pirate assured her though, refusing to seem fragile. Blake dared to look past it. She could see the redness in the blonde's eyes, reflecting a range of dull distress.

"Are you angry with me?" Blake asked quietly.

"No," Yang said, almost too quickly.

"…But you were?"

The following question took a while longer.

"Yes," the pirate replied distantly, almost wishing that it could be forgotten as a distant memory.

"I'm sorry for asking you to do such a thing," Blake murmured. Her lips parted for an explanation that she wasn't entirely sure of how to give. "It was wrong of me."

"It's fine." Yang shook her head. "I understand why you did it."

The pirate sat down on a loose plank, drawing closer with an unreadable expression. It took a moment to realize what the blonde was doing. Her tanned hands had trailed downwards, slow, with a fearful hesitation.

It was hard to tell, not until Yang touched her, that the pirate was trembling. The dressings around her lifted for another brief second.

This time, Blake did not grimace.

"…Your wounds have festered," said Yang after a long pause. "I'm sorry to have kept you suffering for so long."

"You speak as if it's your fault." Blake's lips folded into a weak smirk.

"I can't help but think that it is," mumbled the pirate.

"Well, I'd hate to waste another second telling you how..." Blake winced as she struggled to sit up. "How ridiculous you sound. You know better than that."

"…Maybe so."

"It's not your fault," Blake told her adamantly, pained amusement painting the lines of her face. "How can it be, after all that you have done for me? You are the most selfless human being I have ever had the fortune of meeting."

"Selfless?" Yang coughed up a feeble laugh, her eyes narrowing into darkened slits. "I saved your life for no other reasons but my own."

Yang seemed confused by her own words, as if she struggled to remember why it had to be so. "You were like a dream to me, Blake," she attempted to explain. "Like the distant horizon of the ocean, like the very edge of the world. A treasure I'd like to claim one day, but a treasure that would never truly be mine."

Suddenly the sea felt far away, hushed, the noise distant, a meaningless hum, compared to this confession, and all Blake clung onto were Yang's words.

"I did everything to save you, to have you," she said, sounding peculiarly apologetic, "and once I finally caught you, I didn't know what to do with myself. I started this journey with childish dreams and hopes, but it quickly turned to corruption, my desires and lust. And when the thought of losing you began to strike me, I lashed out like a child. I didn't wish to think about it. I didn't wish for _you_ to think about it."

A cloud of uncertainty came over the blonde's face. "I've been anything but selfless, Belladonna. I'm a pirate, for god's sake. I live to serve myself. I live to serve my greed, to preach my values to others."

"So… What are you saying?" asked Blake, in the same low voice. "That I was merely a prize you wished to win in this war?"

"…Yes." Yang paled, her mouth hanging dry. "That is all."

Blake paused again, staring at her, more deliberately than before. "You're a terrible liar, Captain."

"Actually," The pirate almost appeared half-amused, "I've been told that I have a great knack for dishonesty."

"Is that so?" Blake let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "Well, apparently you're not so clever when it comes to things that matter."

"Can't you just play the damn fool for once?" Yang grumbled. "Must you always walk all over my head like that?"

"I insist that you tell me the truth, Captain," Blake whispered. "We are not children anymore. I'm sure that I can handle it."

There was more here, than what the blonde wished for her to perceive. And for once in her life, Blake refused to be passive. The pirate stared at her, uncomprehending at first, then, actually looked a bit crestfallen as she spoke in turn.

"…I have feelings for you," she revealed in a soft, gingerly manner. "That is what I'm trying to say. I saved you because I desire you, and I don't want any of my actions, any of what I did in the past, to be hailed as an act of compassion or an act of selflessness. Because they weren't. They can hardly be qualified as something so noble and pure."

"No," Blake said, feeling warmer as she finally understood. "It was for love... Arguably the most selfish act in the world, I suppose."

"Exactly," the pirate affirmed, in a monotone that cut the other off. "But now… If I may, I will grant you this one last favor."

There was a heavy thump, as Yang moved her thick boots. She opened up a strap of her clothes, reaching into a pocket of her waist satchel. The suspense of its reveal was short. The pirate pulled the object out without a moment of delay.

"I will- I will help you leave this world in peace- without suffering-" Yang seemed to shudder involuntarily. "Because that is what I hope for this to be, an act of mercy. A deliverance from pain."

"Is that…?" The question never finished. It was needless to ask what it was. It appeared before them in a flash: a small double barrel pistol with a silver rim. Blake swallowed with difficulty, her saliva feeling like bullets inside her raspy throat. "Does it still carry a shot?"

"Yes." Yang paused, cradling the weapon in her hands. "Just one."

There was no need to consider if it were loaded or not. Knowing the pirate, Blake didn't require a second of thought.

"Ask me again, Belladonna," she heard, barely audibly. "And I will do it."

Here was her chance of escape, and yet the closer it came, it felt lost and out of touch. It resembled nothing of hope, but only of herself at her worst.

Now, she understood the meaning of sacrifice. It wasn't the simple act of letting go, giving rather than receiving. No- It was the act of doing something completely tortuous, something one would never even imagine to do, not in all possible lifetimes, in neither life nor death.

What she had been asking for, for the pirate to leave her, hadn't been a true sacrifice. No, she had been a selfish, cold-blooded fool. If anything, she was blinded by her own greed; she wanted the pain to cease, and her calculations of the blonde's well-being had been a meek justification at best.

Despite what she claimed, Yang had performed the most selfless act in the end, and whether or not she realized it did not matter.

If the pirate's feelings were genuine, and Blake had no trouble believing that they were so, then the act of pulling the trigger wouldn't be just brutish. It would be an execution. It would mean death. By promising the salvation of her life, Blake knew that the pirate was offering up her own for a life of eternal damnation. And this, yes, this was the ultimate sacrifice of all.

"No."

"…I'm sorry?" Yang didn't blink or move, apparently too confused to process Blake's newfound smile.

"I said no," she repeated quite firmly, keeping her head strong, hoping not to break their shared gaze. "You saved my life, Captain. My life is no longer mine to throw away. It is yours to take and yours to keep."

She grinned defenselessly, with much effort, but without a taint of doubt. "And if you ask me to, then I will do it as well. I will continue to fight for you until my very last breath."

"Can- Can you really do that?" Yang stumbled over her words, nearly mute. "Would you really do that for me?

"I will," answered Blake, in a surprisingly gentle way.

"Are you absolutely sure?" There was a short sob, a sound that Yang quickly swallowed, hiding it behind a cover of nervous laughter. "It wouldn't be too cruel of me to ask for such a thing?"

"Be selfish, Captain." Blake tried to act casual as her lips curled up in a solid, binding promise. "We all deserve to be once in a while."

She moved an immeasurable amount, the last of the distance between them evaporating in an instant. Her right hand traveled forward, doing just enough to touch the blonde's knuckles. The pirate's grip inadvertently relaxed, and the pistol slipped out from underneath her pale fingers. With difficulty, Blake took it from her; it was heavy, much heavier than expected, but Blake carried it into her hands instead, knowing that it was her turn to share the burden.

Blake thought there was an explosion. But she couldn't be sure, not with her focus facing such a troublesome imbalance. All she had done was pull the trigger. And the machinery did the rest; the spark fizzed, the main charge burned through the vent, and the pistol fired out its last crack. Its ring was hollow, the powder and the ball of metal never reaching a solid destination. It must have landed somewhere in the waters, ambitious, but not enough to reach the skies.

The pirate accepted the emptied gun, and the two felt the air grow a little lighter.

"Together then," Yang told her, pressing her lips onto hers like a careful remedy. "I will be with you, from now on, until eternity."

"Of course." Blake almost let loose a tear. "Thank you, Captain…"

"I have a name, you know," the blonde requested, finally managing to act somewhat suave. "Would it kill you to ever use it?"

"Yang," she complied at once. "Thank you, Yang."

The pirate smiled, sending Blake a tender wave of heat. It was an innocent thought; she would die happily if she were to see that smile for a second time.

* * *

"Blake?"

The silence never seemed as deadly as it did in the present.

"Blake?" Yang spoke again, in an urgent cry.

She did not open her eyes.

The pirate shook her vigorously.

She did not wake.

"No." Yang sprang to her feet, quivering from head to toe.

The most frightful thoughts rushed through her veins, feeding frenzies into her brain. She violently forced them out, knowing that when loved ones were in question, the human mind was capable of inventing every sort of terrible madness.

Blake was pale, and it wasn't the sort of hue she enjoyed to see, not a smooth shade of milky white, like the foam in her rum, the skin of a newborn baby – it was an unhealthy absence of any lively color.

Yang felt her chest, searching for the weak pulse. She listened to her breathing: there it was, a staccato of respiration, which seemed to be on the verge of extinction. The pirate's heart, against all odds, both sank and rose. She rushed back onto the small board they shared, making sure her arms draped around the girl's torso. She pulled her head closer, allowing Blake's nose to nuzzle underneath her chin. Her heat would do it. She would use it to warm her back to life. Yet would it be enough to rouse her? Did she even have much left to offer? Yang shivered as well, and fastened her hold, keeping their bodies tightly in contact.

The pirate wished that she could cry, but she had wept so much of late that she found it difficult to shed another tear. Her eyes and mouth felt dry and crusty. With all the worry she had spent, the pirate hardly considered her own health to be a problem. Now, with no distractions, with only loneliness and the silence she despised so much, it grew increasingly harder to ignore.

"Is this truly the end for us?" Yang asked her, feeling suddenly hopeless. "If you can still hear me, please, let me know in any way you can."

There was not a sound in the wind.

"Live," she murmured sorrowfully. "That is all I ask from you. If you live, then I shall spend the rest of my life by your side."

From the misty confession, Yang let out a shaky, distorted laugh. The sea became rough, describing her chaotic insides.

"But if you must die," she whispered on, "die knowing that your life, your very existence, was my life's best part."

She felt a flutter of strength in their interlocked hands. The movement was confined to a tremor in the second and third finger, and then an occasional fluttering of eyelids. It was an undeniable answer. It was the gentle surety of Blake's touch that calmed her. It made her yearn for a love that she never knew to exist. Without knowing, she had found it within her, on a small island in the middle of nowhere. Years later, they had already transcended their youthful promises.

Their fever came and left. Now, it was time to rest in the cool shade it left behind. Yang knew that Blake had done her best, and though her battle continued like the restless sea, they were losing time. Yang squeezed Blake's hand in solemn reply. Instead of running again, they would greet it this time, like an old friend.

Would there be an eternity to wait for, hovering beyond them in the distance? Was that infinite truly there, real and permanent, peaceful, like it had been promised? If all souls were blessed to take rest there, then in theory, they could. It was the end of what once began, the start of all ends, and the end that would be found by everyone everywhere eventually, and even more quickly, if they were to try.

So, she would try hard for the both of them. And she would pray, pray like she was innocent and ignorant, knowing that though her invocations had never been answered before, whoever it was who ruled the fates, whatever it was that existed up there in the stars, he or she, an entity or a myriad of starving ghosts, it would owe her this one final request. To allow their souls to be united after this.

With a suddenness emphasized by the silence that followed, the rain stopped. The sky cleared and the waves vanished with the clouds. Yang thought she heard a creaking sound from afar, but it was faint, and not a subject she was concerned about. She didn't wish to turn around, afraid that once she did, the other side of her would fade away to dust.

Great tidal waves rushed from behind. The sun was slowly darkened, and they were drifting into deeper shadows cast upon the sea. The noise grew louder, and louder; Yang never imagined that death would be so disruptive and conspicuous. There was a deep rumble, signalling its mighty entrance.

When she had said all that she wanted to say, when she had spoken the unspoken desires of her heart, she heard it again.

She heard a familiar blare of a horn.

"Ahoy there!"

The pirate begged it to be real. Jolted by the solid voice, Yang turned around, and in an instant, her lilac eyes shot forward, bulging at the sight of an approaching craft. It had been like a mountain, growing discreetly and towering over them.

She gaped up at the fast-driven ship. There was a figure on top - a tall man standing on the nearest deck. He stared down at her, an out-of-place, jolly smile dancing upon his jubilant visage. A visage of an old, merry friend.

"What..." Her words died, too shocked to be vocalized in sentences. "How?"

A surprise was only good when it was least expected, and by far, this had been the least prepared she's been in her entire life.

"You weren't forgetting about us now, were you?" The man asked, grinning widely as he leaned over the board. "Captain Xiao Long?"

He paused for dramatic effect. With a flash of his hand, he threw off the cocked hat he wore, tossing it out into the air, landing it perfectly in front of her, a familiar silver medallion pinned to its sides: the mark of a fellow pirate. Yang nearly toppled over as her knees buckled.

"Really? Do I not even deserve a proper response?" He went on, ignoring her babble with an irritated snort. "I hope you know that we've been searching the whole ocean, looking for your sorry ass!"

"You're- You're here. You found us," Yang panted, face still tight with tension. Her grip on Blake grew avidly strong. "Where are the others? I need help! There's been a-"

"Hold on a second! What's this?" He stopped her, waving his two hands in mock horror. "Who's the other lady in your arms? Did you scuttle with another woman without telling me about it first? That's hardly a decent thing to do to your best mate!"

"She's dying, Sun!" She shouted up at him, and his smile immediately dropped. "I need help! Get help!"

Her hands shook, and she almost feared the worst, that she would drop Blake, and that this would be the end, when it should have been, so rightfully been, their beautiful beginning.

"She's been shot! She's barely breathing. I don't know what, I-" Yang didn't even realize that she was still talking; her mouth turned like an uncontrollable gear, and the further she panicked, the harder she clutched onto the woman in her arms. "Tell me how to do it, and I would- I would… But I- I don't know what she needs… She needs a- a doctor. She needs help! Damn it, where are the others? I need a hand! I can't- I won't- I'm going to drop her. Please, I- I…"

There was a thud, and the boat shook slightly; she lowered her body, bending her knees as she went down, making sure that they would be safe and secure. A steady hand touched her shoulder, and only then did she vaguely remember her crew mate's visible presence.

"Give me a hand with her, please…" Yang choked. "She's dying…"

"Captain," Sun tried to console her. "Look at me, Captain."

"No." She shook her head stubbornly. "She needs help."

"I know." There was another blare of a horn, and the volume grew, with more voices floating in the air, yet all of it became lost around her ringing ears.

"I understand," Yang heard her friend again. "Let her go, Captain. I got her. I'll get her the help she needs. Believe me, as I am telling you the truth."

Her grip finally eased, realizing that she had been holding on for too long, shaking so much that the boat could be overturned. The muscles in her hand violently twitched, and within its short lapse, Sun managed to catch her mistake, supporting Blake's listless body with his own exposed arms.

"Be… Be gentle with her," Yang ordered, her mouth still thick and moist.

She could have taken his hand into making a forceful promise, but the pirate was too far gone to express strength. All she could do was utter one word: "Please."

* * *

When Yang awoke, she woke up to what she was finally doing.

To her great surprise, she was sitting, not standing. A rough blanket was draped around her shoulders. A cup of some warm and black substance was in her hands, the platter underneath it carried spots of numerous spills; she must have been holding it with unsteady hands.

The shock nullified over a course of several deeply-taken breaths. Yang remembered where she was now, noticing the familiar blandness of her room, the captain's chamber of her own prized vessel.

She wasn't alone. A figure stood by the door frame, leaning quietly in uninterrupted patience.

"So... Were you planning on telling me what happened or..." tried Sun, after pretending to have not been there for the past ten minutes. "Were you just going to sit there and stare blankly at the wall?"

"Neither, actually," Yang replied shortly, lowering her drink and setting it down on the small wooden table. "How did you manage to find me?"

"Well, when you told us you were running a quick errand, and then disappeared for the entire evening, we figured something was wrong." Sun shrugged. "Besides, you know how fast word travels around in this town. There's been a few wild rumors about a particular pirate. We heard she shot down a marine general and kidnapped a lieutenant of one of their ships."

"Did this story resemble something that I would do?"

"Yes." He seemed to think this as obvious. "It was a pretty unanimous vote."

"I see." Yang didn't know whether to be proud or insulted. "Well, despite what you may all think, let me make this perfectly clear: I did not kidnap her. I rescued her."

"But you did shoot the man?" She nodded slowly for emphasis. Sun mirrored the gesture in sullen approval. "Well, at least half of what I've heard is true."

He took a fortifying breath, and opened his mouth with a much more worrisome expression.

"The woman that you brought in…" He began with uncertainty. "Velvet's cleaned her wounds, and gave her some medicine to cope with the pain. We can't be too sure, but we're hoping that she'll pull through the night. I mean- She has come this far, hasn't she? Proves how stubborn a person can be in death."

"I need to see her," Yang demanded at once, getting to her feet.

"No." His declination was strangely offbeat. "Not now. She's resting."

"I don't care," she countered in resistance. "I just need to see her, that's all."

"She's doing fine on her own, Captain," Sun said rather firmly, stepping closer towards the only door that stood in the room. "And right now, I cannot allow you to pass."

"What?" Yang's eyes widened, pondering if this was his bizarre form of a mutiny.

"Not unless you tell me what happened." Her friend made his demands perfectly clear, crossing his arms as he gave her his best attempt at sternness. "Until then, I will not move an inch from this spot."

Yang scowled, growling lowly in her throat as she sat back down in her chair, refusing to accept her losses.

At her reluctant reservation, Sun simply sighed, lowering his guard as he began his fruitless interrogation. "Now, I got a good, long look at this girl before I left."

She nodded hesitantly in return, but was incapable of a bigger response. "And?" She managed a single word.

Sun looked over at her, his face solemn and stony.

"She's quite pretty, wouldn't you agree?"

There was a short pause, and then there was an audible snap of tension.

"Sun," Yang breathed in, her eyes narrowing. "I swear to god, I will cut your throat."

"Come now!" He rushed frantically, his smile wide and charmingly innocent. "I was only jesting for sport! There's no need to be so tense about this. Besides, you know I would never mess with your women, not after what you did to me the first time around. I've still got the scar to remind me."

"Good." She glared at him with mock contempt. "Keep talking like that and you'll get another one, right in between your trousers there."

Sun, in reply, promptly crossed his legs. "At least I'm not a shameless flirt like you," he muttered.

"I have to admit," agreed Yang. "It is quite a gift."

They exchanged a minor glance, and let out an air of laughter.

"I've missed making you angry." Sun hummed, wringing his hands together as he ignored the arts of subtlety. "But I wouldn't want to keep delaying the real issue at hand."

"There is no issue to deal with," she argued.

"Captain." He gave her that knowing look. "Come on."

"Fine, fine…" The blonde threw her hands up in defeat, cursing herself for not having been a more intimidating commander. "Ask me your questions now, because I won't be answering them later."

"Good," Sun said, a determined edge creeping into his eyes. "Then you can start by answering this: What on earth could you have possibly been thinking?"

"I don't know," she defended herself, in a rather pathetic fashion. "I suppose I wasn't thinking."

"You never do."

"But you already know that," Yang grunted in response.

"Fair enough." Sun scratched his head, endeavoring to tread carefully as he changed topics. "All right then, tell me this. Who exactly is this woman you keep sheltering under your wing?"

"It's hard to say," she murmured, staring out the cabin window, to an empty corridor. "What do the others think of her?"

"They think their captain's gone nutters," huffed Sun, "risking her life to save an enemy's."

"…And what do _you_ think?"

"Well, I've known you longer than most." He passed her a wry smile. "To be honest, I've grown a bit bored of your habitual madness."

This was one of those dear moments, Yang smiled, when she remembered why she had appointed this man to be her first mate. His support was never quite so serious, but she always appreciated his open frankness.

"There was a time when you were nice and incoherently drunk," Sun relayed. "Back then, you told me a story once."

Yang furrowed her eyes, not understanding where he would be going with this anecdote.

"It was about a beautiful woman who would often visit you in your dreams." He fished out a rather silly, teasing look. "I asked if it was ever a sensual experience. You smacked me over the head and said, no, of course not. Apparently, she was far too precious to be sullied around like that."

"You always wore this vacant, dreamy expression when you spoke of her." Sun laughed, not bothering to try and recreate it. "You babbled on for a while, talking about her hair, and how the rum smells on the scent of her breath, not bothering to make any sense for my sake. Then finally, you passed out, with the world's strangest look on your face."

He frowned at the last, most important recollection. "It was like you were in pain, but you were happy about it."

"My god," Yang groaned, feeling mortified by the picture he was drawing. "Remind me never to go drinking ever again."

"Oh, yes. Because that would be the solution to everything, wouldn't it? To be abstinent?" Sun smirked. "No, Captain. I'm asking you a fair question. Tell me, is this woman the one you've been mentioning to me in secret? The one who haunts your happiest daydreams. The one from your not-so mysterious past?"

"…Yes."

"Then I only have one question left to ask."

She didn't consent right away, and Sun seemed to decide that it would be kinder for him to say it again aloud.

"Yang," he addressed her once more, not as a simple bystander, not as a crew member, or a subordinate in war, but a friend, a truly concerned friend. "What are you planning on doing with this woman?"

There it was again. That question she had no clue of answering. Yang knew Sun for his famous obstinacy, almost as strong as her own, but not nearly as abrasive. If she were to tell him what needed to be said, that she was simply an irresponsible, reckless pirate in the purest of definitions, then Yang was sure that he would be resigned to accepting her idiocy, and would allow her to visit the woman she so greatly desired. Yet, even that evasive answer felt inadequate. The best she could offer now was the hardened, jagged truth.

"This woman..." Yang started, after a long byte of silence. "She almost died by my hands."

This was, evidently, not the sort of answer Sun had been expecting.

"Um…" He looked at her, as if she had not grasped his intentions at all. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I offered to end her life," she explained quietly. "When the pain became too much."

"…A mercy shot." He nodded grimly in a belated agreement. "I mean, it isn't that uncommon, with the kinds of lives we lead."

"I lied to her though," continued Yang, no longer caring who it was before her. The objective changed mid-conversation. She simply needed to get this secret out, to empty the weight off her chest. "She asked me how many bullets I carried."

"Two," she didn't wait for his response. "There were two shots left in my pocket."

"What?" Sun frowned with incomprehension. "I don't understand what you're saying."

After pretending to ignore him for close to a minute, Yang finally raised her head and cleared her throat.

"I was planning on following her after she passed."

She needed to tell someone, and to be given that face – that exact expression of undisguised horror and utter disbelief.

By seeing that, Yang would know. She would know that her feelings were true, and very much real, because committing to such an act would only be possible if one were to be completely, certifiably insane. Or, in love. The two came hand-in-hand, she had learned that lesson today. Love was the line between sanity and madness.

"You..." Sun was about to retort, when there was an abrupt explosion of sound. Thunderous noise that echoed from above. There was a clamor of rapid, frantic footsteps, and the two heard their names being summoned by a pack of panic-stricken voices.

"What was that?" He asked sharply, jumping up in cold sweat.

Yang rose to her feet as well, recognizing that shrill, high-pitched alarm.

"We're under attack," she noted quietly. Her words rang a sense of hollowness into their ears.


	48. The Ocean Is Big and Blue (Part 6)

They emerged to chaos.

The first thing to be noticed was the color white; a whole flock of it, scattered throughout the ship. A large vessel was anchored by their side, linking the two together by a line of landing planks. It harbored a single large flag, coated in mixtures of navy blue.

"An ambush," Yang growled as she pulled out her gun. She exchanged a brief look with Sun, who nodded in silence. They turned, with their backs facing each other. Sun began firing, the first round of many.

Her nose took in the smell of fresh blood. It ran alongside the saltiness of the sea. The boards of her deck were marked in crimson. There was the familiar waft of gunpowder, the strangled cries of enemies and allies alike, thuds and thumps sweeping through the serenity of the splashing waves.

It was a losing battle. They were grossly outnumbered. Yang shouted around her surroundings, commanding her comrades to be brave until the very end.

Her pistol let out a cloud of fumes. A man went down, sprawling across the floor in a sickeningly limp fashion. A brunette woman caught the blonde's attention from her right, sneaking above the sails. There was a loud bang. A shot fired, hitting the ground a foot away from the pirate's boots.

Yang pivoted to her left, ready to return the favor. The girl was a clear target, her full torso exposed. She froze at gunpoint, her body becoming rigid and small.

There was a great deal of fear in her eyes. The sun was setting from behind, sinking in a yellow-orange hue. For some reason, her figure shone in the color of amber. Before Yang could have the sense to be wise, the grip on her weapon slackened.

Her enemy, however, did not wait.

"What are you doing?" Sun roared at her, tackling her down as a shot narrowly missed her cheek.

Yang unhinged her mouth, prepared to open with an excuse, when she felt his weight be pried off of her. There was a cry of pain, and Sun was gone from her side.

"Drop your weapons," came an unkind, high-pitched voice. It was followed with the clean sound of a sword, scratching against the solid surface of a sheath.

"Do it now," repeated the woman, and the blade was lowered, probing dangerously through her collar.

Turning, slowly as she did so, Yang faced her foe. Her flintlock made a sad clang as it dropped out of her palm.

A young woman stood in front of her sight, her appearance maintaining a tight, kempt manner.

"Bind them," she said, and with her third order, the pirates were brought down on their knees, with knives and guns aimed at their heads. Yang resisted fiercely, even as a huddle of men kept her immobilized, tightening the straps around her wrists.

The blonde seethed in anger. She remembered that face, and that silky brush of white hair matching the uniform she wore. Those infuriatingly piercing blue eyes, staring at her in some sort of rich defiance, like she was some patron of justice.

"You seem familiar." The blonde smirked, scrunching up her face in fake recollection. "Have we met?"

She had one last weapon at her disposal: her tongue.

"Do you think it wise to be making jokes?" The woman stared vindictively at her, the edge of her blade directed towards her heart. "I wouldn't act so high and mighty if I were you, Xiao Long."

"It's _Captain_ Xiao Long," the blonde pointed out sharply. "And I think I'm much more suited to that position than you are, Schnee."

"Are you now?"

Within a second, another pistol came into view. It was embroidered in gold and silver, shining under the rays of daylight. The gun shot out of the front pocket of the woman's coat, and without a moment of hesitation, it turned outwards and fired.

There was a deafening bang, and in horror, Yang watched as Sun sank a little to the floorboard. His lips were clamped shut, in realization of his sudden mortal peril. The bullet had been close, flying a mere inch away from the top of his head. It hit the mast behind him, leaving a hollow black hole.

"Well, what kind of a captain would stand by and watch one of her men die?" Weiss asked, in a tone that was taunting and scornful. "His head would look fine among the gallows, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'll be flying your head as my banner before that happens," Yang snarled.

"You're not very bright, are you?" The girl's eyes ran icy cold. "As I have said before, I would do much more than cooperate with me, pirate."

There was no method of argument left. If she were to speak, another bullet would be fired. And despite her confidence for warfare, even Yang knew better than to provoke her enemy's anger.

Sun stared at her, as if he were expecting her to defy the navy's commands again. There was a certain level of betrayal in his eyes, like he had almost been counting on her to be more reckless, as if his life didn't hang in the balance.

His brows were furrowed, his expression adamant and resolved to death.

In the end though, he was just another man. He had the tendency to play the tough role, posturing, puffing himself up to a greater size than he actually was. If it weren't for his reputation for exaggeration, Yang may have even believed him.

"What is it that you want?" She growled, making her choice as she turned away from her friend.

"Take me below the deck," Weiss demanded, with an unwavering glare. She looked behind her shoulder as a second thought, addressing the line of her remaining soldiers. "The rest of you, stay here and only disturb me if you have important news to report."

She cast another glance to her right side. Then, with a bit of a shrug, she added: "Vasilias, you can come with me."

Neptune seemed particularly happy with this decision. Carrying an anticipative look, he stepped closer to his captain's side.

"What are you planning?" Yang narrowed her eyes, refusing to bow as she was pushed towards the cramped stairway.

"That is no business of yours, pirate," the woman returned. "Lead the way in silence, unless you wish for me to start firing again."

They walked slowly, with difficulty and with much caution. Yang stumbled frequently, having a hard time keeping still and calm with her forelimbs strapped behind her back, hindered by a thick knot. She kept a close eye on Sun, knowing that she would never forgive herself if something were to happen to him as well. He was but a feet behind her, breathing heavily, tied and gagged.

Upon request, they traveled below the deck. Without an instant to consider otherwise, Yang directed them towards the gold, the small pile of wealth they had managed to claim from the kingdoms.

Weiss Schnee, however, seemed only moderately impressed. She peered around the treasure room, simply for a short moment, then pushed the blonde out, shaking her head in vivid disgust and disappointment.

"I didn't ask to see where you kept your proof of thievery, pirate," she hissed.

"You didn't _ask_ to see anything at all," Yang replied bitingly.

This earned her yet another bruise, being kicked in the stomach as she felt her wind pipes groan. She kept herself from falling, bending her body with her back folded.

"Where do you keep the sick and injured?" Weiss made her next shrill demand.

The pain, for a moment, vanished, flying away at a much more miserable thought. Yang looked up, staring at her enemy's eyes with blunt shock and confusion.

There was no way the girl could have known, the blonde thought frantically. But if she had been informed beforehand, then why? Why on earth would she ask to see-

Yang felt another rough kick, and she was sent down on both knees, wheezing air out of her lungs.

"Do not keep me waiting, pirate." A cold pair of hands hoisted her up by the arms. Again, the honed sword positioned itself between her head and her chest. Yang's mind raced, and her blood streamed through like a violent current. She walked down the halls of her own ship, like a thin plank to her imminent death.

Soon, they reached a bland door, situated at the end of their path. In sweat, Yang watched as her captor turned the knob.

The room was deadly quiet as usual, being engulfed by that same suffocating degree of silence. Only one patient lay on the white linen beds. Yang held her breath, realizing that this would be her first visit since their separation.

Blake Belladonna was lying straight on her back, respiring softly as the sheets above her rose and fell to a tender rhythm. Her sickly countenance had improved from before. Or in the light of Yang's hopes, perhaps this was the only way her eyes wished to perceive things.

Yang would have done anything for their reunion to be more private. She desired it so badly, to the point where she suddenly missed the small boat they shared on the sea. At least there, they had been alone. They had shared intimacy.

Now, it seemed as though they were being broken apart. Important as those experiences were, they were only memories, and memories were quite susceptible to change, especially to the fearful turmoil of her own mind.

With each step Weiss Schnee took, the feeling of dread grew even deeper.

"So, it was true," said the ice woman, her blue eyes widening. Her face was set in stone, yet she failed to hide the slight quiver in her voice. "She really was captured by you."

"I didn't capture her," Yang spat, hating the way the girl made her sound, like Blake had been kept here against her will. "I saved her- from one of _your_ men, actually. Now, what kind of a captain would allow something like that to happen, I wonder?"

The blade to her throat suddenly grew very sharp, pointing down, sinking at least a centimeter into the bare linings of her neck. A trickle of blood petered out from the wound.

"Do not compare me to the likes of you," came another angry, indignant command. "Do not test my patience, pirate. I am merely seconds away from spilling your blood."

As soon as the blade left her skin, the woman turned away, her ironclad stance loosening for only a short lapse of time. Her eyes crinkled, and there was an ever-so-slight tremble in her hands. Yang could see the vibrations from her sword.

"Stay back," Weiss stated, with a poor attempt at composure. "I wish to see her without your presence nearby."

A growl escaped from the back of her throat, but like a caged animal, Yang could do no more. She did nothing but watch as the foreign woman bent over Blake's figure, taking in her precious scent.

"I warned you that this would happen, didn't I?" Weiss seemed to be saying, whispering, almost blaming. "I tried to stop you from this fate. Why couldn't you just do as you were told?"

"She's no longer yours to own," Yang reminded her, not bothering to practice self-restraint. "She doesn't need to do as she's told."

"If she did, she wouldn't be lying here, half-dead," Weiss said brusquely, "with her life indebted to some murderous pirate."

This had been the breaking point.

At once, Yang reacted violently. Her body surged forward, kicking the girl's blade down, and rendering it useless by its guard. She didn't care for cuts or injuries. Her eyes were red, bloodshot with vexation.

"A life indebted to me would be far better than a life lived in chains." Yang smiled. It was an unpleasant, frightening kind, worn by a madman seconds before committing a heinous act.

For a moment, Weiss stepped backwards, her body growing stiff and unprepared. Her free hand was already fumbling for another weapon, but Yang would finish this, long before the other had a supposed chance.

Clank.

She felt the cold, metal surface of a barrel. It pushed against the back of her head, subtle yet strong. A series of rough breathing followed.

"Enough," said a male tone. She peered over her shoulders, remembering the man's presence for the first time. Neptune's eyes were big, and his pupils a bit shaken, but his face carried a glint of unbendable courage. "That was your last warning, miss pirate."

Miss Pirate, she bit back a laugh. How awfully polite of him.

His gun, in a strange way, calmed her down, rooting her to a different, but much more important matter. Yang stepped away from the blade. If she were to die, she would die knowing at least one thing.

"Are you going to take her away from me?" Yang asked, realizing quite soon that her voice had cracked mid-sentence.

Silence. A famishing silence.

Weiss fell quiet as well, her eyes growing wide, and the gears in her head turning with the rush of wishful thoughts.

Yang struggled against her binds, suddenly feeling small and vulnerable. A pinging migraine ran through her hairline.

"You can't," Yang argued, curling her hands to fists as she felt her chest tighten. "You can't take her. I won't allow it."

The pirate tugged viciously on her ropes, trying until she could feel no blood left in her arms.

"She'll be killed," she murmured, short and in a bitter tune. "She means the whole world to me, please."

Weiss stared at her. Yang stared back, this time, meeting the gaze without resistance. Their exchange, though brief, spoke for miles, because Yang would only plead for a life that wasn't hers. Even if it meant throwing away her pride, at the moment, only a single purpose was at her sight.

"You saved her life..." Weiss spoke in a sullen voice.

"Yes." Yang closed her lids in painful remembrance. "I did."

Her foe fell silent again. Her bright blue orbs pierced through her, taking in her note of admission as something that carried so much more.

"Do you think you can do it a second time?" came a hushed question.

Lilac eyes snapped open, distrusting the function of their neighboring ears. Yang felt her pulse coursing through, temporarily deafening her senses with the sound. What did she ask of her? Yang stayed frozen on the spot, transfixed, dumbfounded, and not daring to believe what she was hearing.

"What?" The pirate asked, as though she could not have heard properly.

"When you saved her, you must have known that there would be consequences to pay for. Now, pay for them with your life," Weiss declared, carrying on in an odd mixture of animosity and trust. "Make sure that she lives under your protection, no matter how high the costs may be."

"...Is this an order?"

"No," Weiss answered curtly, her tone turning particularly strong at this point. "This is a threat. And I'm sure you will hold your end of the bargain, pirate. If she dies, then your insignificant life will be shortened even further. Do I make myself clear?"

Yang gaped at her, her tongue finding no words to speak. There was a dull pang in her chest, making her uncertain of what she should be feeling.

That was probably the closest to a "yes" the woman was going to receive. Weiss understood this almost too well. Before the blonde could even have a chance to retort with something clever, Weiss took back her sword, abruptly reaching her own civil conclusion.

"Good," she said, turning to reface her blue-haired partner. "Let us go. I have said all that needs to be said."

"I'm sorry?" Neptune's mouth fell open, eyes widening in genuine shock as the conversation progressed. "Are we letting them go?"

Weiss acted as though she didn't hear him, standing calm as she met his troubled gaze.

"We can't do that, Captain," he argued with a strain, as if he were torn between what was wrong and right. "What are we supposed to tell the council?"

"We'll tell them of our defeat."

"Do you plan to keep this a secret?" His face grew even more alarmed at her intended nonchalance. "But what if they find out? The others will talk. I know she saved Blake's life, but what about your repute?"

"What of my reputation, Vasilias?" Weiss hardly seemed troubled by his reaction. In fact, she smirked at his excessive concern. "Let the men talk. Let us see how well their words will fare against mine."

She must have been quite sure of herself, and of her enabling status. This appeared to be a monumental decision for her, and Neptune, having realized this a minute later, began slipping back into a good-natured grin. The worry that had been flickering across his face, upon hearing this, was instantaneously replaced by a foolish smile.

"Whatever you say," he said, bobbing his head like a loyal pup, "Captain."

Weiss looked satisfied by his response, having needed to hear him say it as well. Then, with her defenses striking up again, she threw a stern glare over her shoulders.

"This isn't the last you shall see of me, pirate," she made a solemn warning towards Yang. "You have another day to live for what you have done."

Weiss breathed in, her voice growing a bit faint and light.

"You will not die today," she whispered. "No, today... Today, I leave you in peace and in gratitude."

Everyone in the room stayed silent. Sun quickly looked over at Yang. Yang glanced at Weiss, then at Blake, then back at Sun, then at Neptune. Neptune met her glance, then looked over at Weiss. Weiss, needless to say, stared at nobody else but the blonde.

"What is she to you?" Yang had to ask before the woman left, the question having been a crucial thought from the beginning to the end. Even without the goodness of detail, the implication of who she was referring to was blatantly obvious.

There was a slow pause in her steps, and Weiss turned away from the door, her face seeming equally perplexed.

"Blake," Yang decided to clarify. "She's hardly someone you would hold dear to your heart?"

"How strange of you to say that," Weiss said sarcastically, "And here I was, under the deep impression that you fancied my former lieutenant."

"I mean to you, specifically." Yang fought to keep composed, biting down on her teeth until her gums started to go numb. "To someone of your status."

Her smirk left in a trice, losing to the last word the pirate professed. Weiss glared at her, with a contempt so vile that she couldn't fully equal it, mustering enough energy to come only so close.

But then, the anger dissipated, like an unavoidable instinct that the woman had managed to subdue.

"Our blood is just as red as yours," Weiss said grimly, "Remember that, Captain Xiao Long."

She turned again towards the door, leaving her audience in a state of thunderous confusion.

"Oh. And see to it that she- my _friend_ ," Weiss rolled her eyes as she emphasized, "sees a proper doctor. I wouldn't trust the medical expertise of one of your men."

Her heels clanked up the wooden stairs. Her subordinate, the man with strikingly blue hair, hurried after her, staying close to her until the very last moment, allowing her to walk past the door frame as he lagged behind.

He paused, spending a minute of time to look at them again. The pistol had long since disappeared into the flaps of his pocket. He wore a long, tired smile, a demeanor of maturity that felt ill-suited for him.

"Thanks," he said, after a thoughtful silence.

For a while, they remained befuddled by his words. Then, he left before neither of them could respond.

Befriending a pirate, he seemed to mutter, what a twist of fate this was.

* * *

The air was thick and wet. There was the damp, fungal scent of dead bodies, the smell of poured guts. They heeded, listening to the gloomy sound of splashing bodies, the deceased being tossed overboard, returning to the colder depths of the sea.

Yang sat up in the dark, watching as her fellow men rested, some of them while standing, but most of them sitting dismally on their bums. At close range, their faces showed tension and dread.

"How many did we lose?"

Sun turned to face her question.

"Eight," he answered.

His statement sounded bleak and raw. His face was blank in the dusk. There was a swollen black bruise under his right eye. A similarly nasty cut was bleeding above his lips.

She didn't respond, knowing that there was no use of doing so. The dark was approaching fast now, and off to the far north, she could see silhouettes of distant land.

"Curses," someone finally said. "One day, they'll all be in the depths of hell for this."

There was a murmur of agreement.

Then, like the crack of dawn, came a sudden fit of hoarse laughter. It was empty, resembling almost a ghostly moan resonating through a black lagoon.

They began to grin, rinsed in blood, but alive. They clapped each other on the back, making jokes about having risen from the dead, having once again escaped the near clutches of eternal damnation. They were alive. They enjoyed not being dead. They missed their lost comrades, but for another night, they would enjoy sleeping in their cots, relieved to be waiting for the next morning light.

"We'll take back what they took from us," Sun affirmed, flashing a determined grin. "Isn't that right, Captain?"

They all stared at her, eager to hear her side of the story, ready to be stirred by a speech of violent motivations. Yang opened her mouth in turn, already knowing that she would fail to deliver.

"I am sorry."

It was the wrong thing to say - she knew it, the moment the words fell out of her mouth. Yet, even if she had a chance to mess with time, Yang knew she would have uttered the same apology.

Normally, what would she have said? They'll pay, yes, they would. They would be peeling their enemy's skin, tearing their tongues out, slitting their veins open, and sending them to the devil's realms.

Instead, what had she shown? Weakness. She had shown pity and signs of heartache. The crew gawked at her, as if she really had gone mad. Yang certainly felt that she was growing close.

The blonde wished that she could find some sort of great rage, but the emotion was absent, and she couldn't make it happen anyway. She was bitter, sure. For a while, she thought this was a feeling indistinguishable from anger. But it wasn't. No, it was more different than she hoped.

"Come on," Sun said, as he pulled her by the arm. "We weren't finished with our talk."

She didn't refuse him, not as he allowed her to escape from the crowd. He dragged her, stopping his fierce steps when they reached below the deck, closing the door behind them as they stood in the narrow halls of the ship.

"What do you think she meant?" Yang asked, when they were once again alone. "When she talked about her blood being as red as ours?"

"I don't know. Quite frankly, I don't care," he retorted succinctly, keeping one hand on her shoulder, the other rubbing the side of his head. "This girl you keep coming back to- She's been nothing but trouble from the start. It's her fault you've been acting so strangely for the past few weeks. It's beginning to seriously concern me."

"What do you mean?" Her body ran cold, horrified that he had noticed the change.

"The real Yang Xiao Long wouldn't apologize! Not for one of her men who died for their cause." He halted his rant, his expression growing in slight suspicion. "Unless… Unless she no longer feels the same way as before."

"Of course I do! There's no need to doubt my words. I just- My head is spinning, Sun," Yang murmured, the color in her eyes growing dim and lost. "Blake doesn't belong here. She wouldn't want this life. When she last agreed to it, she had been ill and deprived of her choices. She couldn't have been sincere then, and I'm too afraid to ask her now when her mind is clear and lucid."

"If she won't join us…" Sun began cautiously. "Then the other choice would be for you to leave."

"I can't do that now, can I?" Yang laughed at the suggestion, having half-expected it, but half-wishing that it had never been vocalized. "I can't give up on this after so many years of effort. Fighting is the only thing I know how to do!"

The pirate paused, considering everything as she ransacked her poisoned mind.

"And if we don't fight for the common people, then who will?" She reasoned with herself. "We must fight to live, and if death is something we must face, then so be it. We'll die knowing that our lives held a purpose, and that others brave enough will come and take our places at the sea."

There was a voice ringing inside her head, dreadfully loud in lingering disappointment. Nevertheless, Yang ignored it, keeping that dream buried and locked away.

"It's her decision," she said eventually, in both pain and in grief. "I will stick by the promise I made to her. I wish for nothing more than to always be by her side, but it has to be her choice. She must decide, now that she's safe to do what she wants…"

"Listen to yourself," Sun interrupted her resolution, his eyes hardening at her duplicity. "What did you just say? You claimed that you would want nothing more than to be standing by her side."

"Yes," Yang frowned, "That is what I said. But-"

"We both know what the heart wants," he stated in an ardent manner, and the pirates exchanged an impartial stare. "There is no other way. You must choose. This ship cannot be led by someone who is uncertain of her fate."

Yang could see that he was growing angry, or upset, or a little bit of both. It was easy to tell with Sun, as he was always such a sportive character. The realization, of course, did little to uplift her.

"I do have a different answer." She swallowed under the pressure. "I just don't know if it's the right one."

"Well, I'd suggest you sort out your priorities pretty quickly." Sun scoffed rather mockingly. "She'll be waking soon enough, and quite frankly, I think it's a bit too early in your relationship to be showing her this poor side of you."

"I know," she agreed for once. "I'm hopeless."

"You're not." Sun paused, before letting out an immensely deep sigh. "You're just tired. You've grown sick of fighting. I can see it in your eyes."

She clenched her jaw, ready to retort, when Sun physically shushed her; his thick hand smashed over her moving lips.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about," he told her, sounding kind despite the force of his touch. "It's nothing to feel guilty over. You've always fought for the people you loved. At first, your sister. Then, your father. Then, for our fellow men."

"It was nothing," Yang replied, stubbornly breaking apart from her friend's hold.

He smiled appreciatively. "But now, you have found somebody else, someone you were willing to end your life for."

Sun's voice became light, yet it had reached that particular octave – his signature tone of rare sincerity. "You cannot just toss that aside. A man cannot open his eyes to the truth, and then walk away from it as if it means nothing. It will be an act of regret you cannot undo."

"But this is where I belong," her voice softened as well, "All of you- You are my family. I cannot just abandon this ship."

"How presumptuous of you to say that." Sun threw her an innocently patronizing glance. "You wouldn't be abandoning us. We would be moving on without you."

Yang knew he had meant this to be a joke, but it hurt to hear it from him nonetheless.

"There's no need to look so glum." He grinned at her, somewhat sadly. "Farewells don't always have to be done in tears. We would be parting ways, yes. Maybe temporarily, maybe even for forever. We can never know. That's the life of a pirate."

The ship gently creaked, lying over the foaming waves, which fell silent for their benefit.

"But wherever we may be," Sun shrugged, "whether we'd be far from home or not, at least we'd know that we are both at sea."

It was a profound statement, she realized. A warm dense fog settled over them, and they were joined by that incessant silence, preceded by the tumultuous rain. Except, this time, Yang perceived it to be slightly different. Normally relentless, the wind sounded almost patient with them this evening.

"So, go ahead and make your big decision," he said again, with a dignified expression. "It really doesn't matter what you choose. You will always be my biggest pain-in-the-ass, Captain Xiao Long."

She laughed at his confession. She had never been happier to be insulted. After everything they had been through, he would always try to understand, and with his words she could feel herself drawing closer towards the truth.

"Thank you, Sun."

She wore her first, savvy smile of the day. "And don't you ever tell anyone what I've shared with you today. Otherwise, I'll be using your blood to warm my rum."

"Oh, I wouldn't even dare!"

Sun paused, sinking in a long afterthought.

"At least, not while I'm sober," he added, with a confident nod. "I can promise you that."

* * *

In her presence, the pirate's fatigue seemed to finally wane. She felt fine, despite her stiff muscles, despite the discomfort of her body, prickling and throbbing at every part. She became less aware of how tired she was, having deprived of proper sleep for so long.

Yang was quiet for a time, as if counting a pulse. Then, she pulled out a stool, moving it close to the figure's bed as she let out a relieved sigh. She saw the color, slowly but surely, returning to Blake's cheeks. Soon, they would reach land, and everything would return to the way it was.

She found herself holding Blake's hand, like an automatic habit, or a force out of nature.

"I may be tired of fighting this war," Yang whispered to her, "but I will never grow tired of fighting for you."

The woman on the bed stirred. Otherwise, she showed no signs of having heard her.

"...Yang?" Blake finally woke a minute later, groggy and confused.

"Yes," said the blonde, catching the girl's searching gaze. "It's me. How are you feeling?"

"Better," Blake murmured. She passed out again, then woke up and asked, "Where are we?"

The pirate did not answer, finding it hard to say it in words. It was always difficult to separate what she wished with what seemed to have really happened.

"It's all right. You're safe now," she said instead. "Thank you for opening your eyes again."

"To be honest, I didn't think that I could," Blake whispered, her voice thick and drugged. Yang reared back a little, giving her the needed space to collect her thoughts.

"Weiss," said Blake, almost at once, to the pirate's great surprise. "Was she here?"

"...Yes." The blonde's lips curled into a frown that she could not hide. "How did you know that?"

"I thought I heard her." Blake shook her head hard to clear it. "Vaguely, from before."

"You were conscious for that, but not for what I said earlier?" Yang grumbled underneath her breath.

"I'm sorry…" Blake frowned, her brows creasing together in confusion. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Nothing. I said nothing." The pirate huffed. "That woman seemed to have heard what happened. She only came to make sure you were alive and breathing. Although, I never imagined the two of you to have been such close..."

If at all possible, Yang would refuse to use the word "friends."

"...You sound mildly jealous, Captain."

"I am not!" She shouted her dissent, then immediately coughed, pretending as though she hadn't just overreacted. "I mean- You're not well, Blake. It's clear to me that you're still very tired from your wounds."

"Oh no, she's the jealous type," came a different voice from the door. "Don't even doubt that for a single second."

The two of them turned, watching as a third figure leaned by the threshold.

"Hello, I don't think we've met before," greeted Sun, waving an innocent hand as he walked on over. "Well, not while both of us were conscious anyway. You were a bit, um, a bit knocked out before."

"…Hello." A flash of recognition filled Blake's eyes. It seemed to frighten her, or startle her to say the very least.

"Yang, where are we?" She asked again, this time, with a heavier stance.

"Um… This is... We're-" Yang stammered. "We're on my ship."

"Your ship?" Blake repeated, with an air of quiet intensity. "But- How did we get here?"

Here came another opportune moment.

"Sun." Yang cleared her throat. "Could you excuse us for a moment?"

"Actually, I'd really rather just stay and watch."

"Sun," the blonde said again, threateningly.

"Oh, fine." He gave in, sounding exasperated. "I'll be right outside if you need me."

"...Did he just wink at me?" Blake asked, her eyes marked with confusion as she watched the boy leave.

"Ignore him." Yang grunted. "I always do."

It was strangely awkward in the room. After a whirlwind of events and forced intimacy, maybe the next logical step was to say nothing at all. Regardless, Yang tried to do the opposite, attempting to break the tricky mood with any topics that came to mind.

"I think we're all in need of a vacation, don't you think?" She paused and tried a new angle. "The South… That's where you were hoping to head?"

"I wasn't actually planning on going somewhere," answered Blake, slowly as she remembered. "I just planned on leaving."

"Well," she mumbled back. "Having no plans is still a plan, after all."

"…I suppose so." Blake watched her, expecting more. "Yang, what is it? You look like you have something to say."

"Yes." Yang heaved in a breath. "I do."

It was time to be blunt.

"I don't know what's in store for me, Blake," she started, sounding more agitated and strained than she wished. "My life's never been easy. And with you, it's become twice as hard."

Blake's face seemed to pale a little.

"But I don't mean it in a bad way," the pirate added quickly. "I would never regret meeting you. It's just… I'm trying to be honest with you."

"...And I'm prepared to listen," Blake said, whilst nodding. She wore a strange expression in response. The blonde wished she was better at reading them.

"I've been doing things my way until now, and it's somehow earned me your trust." Yang grinned sadly. "That's all I ever asked for, really. Perhaps I shouldn't be too greedy."

Amber eyes blinked up at her, remaining in absolute reticence. Blake looked almost small, wrapped in a flurry of white blankets. Yang couldn't help but smile, laughing slightly as she stroked a section of her cheeks.

"Your life is not mine to keep- Do not say that it is," Yang admitted reluctantly. "I want this to be your decision, not a choice out of debt."

There was nothing to worry about, nothing at all, she told herself.

"I don't want to lose you," the blonde breathed reverently, "but I don't want to force you to a life of war… I've talked this over with a good friend of mine. He thinks that it's time for me to depart. And though I hate to prove him right, I think he'd made a pretty decent captain in my stead."

Yang set her jaw, knowing she had only one chance to say this correctly.

"I've decided to leave," the pirate announced with a shaky grin. "If it is all right with you, Blake, I'd like for you to come with me."

Blake gazed at her, appearing surprised as she studied the blonde's face. Yang smiled hesitantly, not knowing how to take the silence. "I did promise to stay by your side, didn't I?"

There was no answer, nothing but a few rapid flutters of Blake's lashes. The air wrinkled between them, and Yang felt her heart shrink with each counted second. Her scrutinizing stare bothered her, opening the door for new doubts.

"You once told me that being a pirate was about freedom," Blake reminded her. Yang knitted her brows in a frown, having no idea where to start with that question. She didn't have to though, as Blake seemed keen on resuming her thoughts.

"When I first met you," Blake mused out loud, "I didn't know about a life outside the kingdoms."

"I was born and raised as a slave, always told what to do and what to say, who to regard as enemies and whose side I should be on," she relayed in a gentle voice, so gentle that it was almost mournful. "Pirates were only thieves, murderers, and men who lost their sense of purpose in life."

"But I was wrong," Blake went on in an unfaltering manner. "You weren't like that all. You fight to bring forth a change. You fight for not only yours, but also for the freedom of others."

Yang listened, being rendered speechless at her words. Blake waited a minute, then raised her head, sitting up to match the blonde's level of gaze.

"I've served the people you despise for so many years." She frowned. "I love Weiss. Regardless of what you may think, my loyalty to her is real."

The pirate stopped breathing, unsure for a moment whether she had imagined the revelation.

"She offered me my freedom. She gave it, in the only way she knew how." Blake swallowed down the truth the blonde wished to avoid. "I respect her and I will not fight her."

Yang clutched Blake's hand, squeezing it a bit tighter, annoyed by how the confession troubled her.

"Even so… I grew fond of a pirate on my enemy's ship," Blake continued tenderly, "I fell in love with her vulnerability, a part she refuses to share with anyone, the side of her that she's afraid to embrace because she's so terrified of being weak."

"I do hope you're talking about me now."

"How many attractive female pirates would I know?" Blake smiled, if that could even be called smiling, or just a minor quirk of her lips. Yang took it in, the gesture working to slowly unbend her own frown.

"I've always been weak," came an ironically strong and clear claim. "But you were always there for me when I needed you the most, whenever I realize just how exhausted I am at all things."

"…You do seem to have a knack for trouble."

"Well, I'd like to think that it's my turn to help you," replied Blake, a golden glare in her eyes. "I don't want you to give up on everything you've ever worked for. This is your world. If you left it, then I wouldn't be leaving with the pirate I fell in love with."

The pirate said nothing in response, feeling as though something had been resolved without her even knowing about it.

"This is my choice, Yang," Blake said with a force that startled her. "I wish for us to stay."

"We can't both get what we want," the blonde deflected meekly.

"Even if that is true," Blake contended, "You're the one who taught me how to dream. Am I wrong to think that we can begin a better future here, here where we can finally be together?"

"Actually, I'd never dreamed that I'd be so lucky," the blonde croaked, touched by her openness. "I used to think that this life- this ship was the only future I had."

"For the longest time, I thought of nothing more than anger and vengeance..." She shared, feeling suddenly spontaneous. "But those thoughts of hatred left me the moment I lay eyes upon you on that ship."

The pirate remembered waking in the past, her head becoming absurdly clear when she became aware of her feeling's existence.

She remembered the day they were destined to meet, the memory as clear as a beam. She wondered how her life would be if a few things had gone differently, if she hadn't dragged her sister out of bed, if she hadn't been where she wasn't supposed to be that night, if she hadn't shared that half-eaten loaf of bread with another.

If everything had gone right, then in a way, nothing would have.

"You see, Blake, you've already saved me," Yang confessed, her tone charged with gratitude. "You've given me my purpose in life. You've forced me, challenged me to doubt myself in the best ways, and to always move on. Today, my life was even spared by an enemy's, something I would have never deemed possible back then."

The blonde smiled fondly at the thought. "You've changed me for the better. I have no one else to thank for that but you, Blake. Thank..."

Her words ran off, the pirate not daring to say more as Blake moved closer, pressing her warm lips onto her own. They tasted like life. It was light, neither crass nor rushed, with no silhouette of death.

"You talk too much," Blake scolded her, keeping only an inch away from another kiss. The pirate conjured up a grin, feeling the burning sensation returning to her veins. She leaned forward, softly pushing Blake back to her pillow. Climbing onto the bed, Yang knocked over the stool, remembering to stay gentle as she towered on top.

"I thought you liked the sound of my voice," she quipped, trapping Blake in between the gaps of her arms.

"I do." Blake gazed up at her, wearing that invigorating smirk. "Just not at this particular moment."

Yang lowered her body, watching as Blake closed her eyes and lips. The blonde grinned, knowing what to do, and what she would do. She saved their third kiss for another time, engulfing the girl in her arms instead. Yang hugged her, wrapping the girl with her quavers, trembling in inexplicable relief. There was a gasp through her overeager embrace, but Blake took note of her sincerity soon enough; a pair of soothing hands locked around her waist in reply.

"Thank you," Yang finished, her eyes liquid with things left unsaid. "I'd like for us to stay as well."

"I am sure of it." Blake strengthened her hold. "This is where I must be."

* * *

That night, the pirates sang. In union, like they do, like they always do. It was a happy tune, almost mocking in how merry it was. Perhaps if one were to listen with careful ears, he would hear the shadows lurking underneath. It would be a song of hope and losses, of both ends and new beginnings. It would be a song of change.

The chanting grew louder, fiercer, as the morning came. The music - the noise - came from the ocean, big and blue in its sound.


	49. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 1)

**Title:** Keep Me Company in the Night

 **Song Prompt:** The Ocean by Mike Perry

 **Genre:** Adventure/Humor

 **Characters:** Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang

 **Pairing:** White Rose, Bumblebee

 **Synopsis:** Assigned with their first solo mission at Beacon Academy, team RWBY runs eagerly towards an old swamp village, expecting nothing less than Grimm-infested waters, the thrills of unexplored territories, and of course, mortal peril.

* * *

 _"You can be my guiding light  
_ _Keep me company in the night  
_ _That's all I need  
_ _All I want  
_ _Is for you to stay a little longer now  
_ _With arms around me like a border_

 _Like the air I breathe  
_ _I let you in  
_ _Keep me warm underneath my skin  
_ _Because I'm giving in to your touch  
_ _I can never get enough  
_ _Dive in deep into the ocean"_

* * *

The air was thick and moist, like taking in water into her lungs. Weiss breathed through her mouth, trying her best to avoid the musty scent of algae and rotting wood.

The freshness of the morning was gone, and the early blue sky had changed into a dull, ugly grey. The jungle made all sorts of sounds as they walked. The trees surrounding them seemed to be buzzing, echoing a cacophony of beetles, birds, and frogs. A mosquito took flight next to her ear; Weiss swatted it away irritably, reminding herself to never visit this village again for as long as she lived.

As a proprietor of cleanliness and proper hygiene, Weiss saw this as one of her worst nightmares come to life.

Her troubles began with the start of their second semester. Professor Ozpin, their headmaster, had decided that it was time for second year students to deal with a huntsman mission on their own. And though Weiss was happy to think that they were finally moving away from shadowing Professor Oobleck on his journeys, she was definitely unhappy about their assignment choice.

When Yang had selected a particularly difficult search and destroy mission from the list, there had been little description provided about what they were expected to do – other than the fact that they would be exploring difficult terrains and handling a new species of Grimm. The lure of it, according to the blonde, had been the mystery.

Of course, as a future huntress, she had no problems with sleeping outdoors, camping out in abandoned buildings like they had done so at Mountain Glenn. But she did not care much for the wilderness, nature with its moss-filled vegetation, puddles of dirt water, and slurps of mud.

And that was the exact terrain Weiss had to endure as the team ventured through the swamps, the local villager explaining the mission to them as they trudged alongside him.

"...And this is the town pub." The man indicated towards his right, pointing towards a dingy cabin in the middle of the woods. "You're welcome to stop by for a drink if you want, though I reckon all of you are still under-aged?"

"Oh no, sir. We're definitely not under- Oof!" Yang's words were cut off rather violently, a painful double jab delivered to her stomach, courtesies from both Weiss and Blake.

"Thank you for your hospitality, but we should really start investigating the fields," said the heiress swiftly. "Now... Where did you say the Grimm are mostly congregated?"

"Well..." The man paused in his tracks, pondering over his answer for a minute. "Toilets, mostly."

"Toilets?" There was a burst of disbelief from the blonde. "You mean they swim up along your pipes and bite people in the…?"

A short giggle came from Ruby, who at least attempted to hide it behind a cough. Weiss remained silent, not wishing to dignify her teammate's comment with a response. Alas, it was up to Blake, whose usual duty was to keep her partner in line.

"Yang." The faunus sighed. "It's not funny."

"I didn't say it was," Yang retorted cheekily. "I was just making sure I heard it right."

"So, aside from the unfortunate..." Weiss hesitated for a moment. "The unfortunate _plumbing_ situation... Where else do these creatures seem to be populating?"

The man shrugged, looking slightly relieved that the conversation was moving back towards a more serious tone. "They live in the lakes near the back of the village. We used to fish around those areas, but it's become too dangerous now with the recent Grimm infestation."

"No worries! We've got you covered!" Ruby, their leader, stopped him, not needing to hear anymore. "Team RWBY is on the case!"

"Thank you," the man sincerely stated, bowing his head low enough that his hat fell to the ground. He picked it up, hurrying out of embarrassment and excitement. "I'll let the townspeople know right away. They'll be delighted to hear the news."

"...Well, I guess this is going to be a total bust," Yang announced, watching in half-amusement as the man scurried off towards the village podium. "We're basically here to improve their sewage plans."

"Come on, sis. It's not going to be that bad." Ruby gave the blonde a hopeful glance. "We're in our second year now. That means missions are going to get harder, better, and more interesting, right?"

"And more dangerous," Weiss made sure to remind everyone. "Remember, this is our first mission, done without the supervision of an actual huntsman or huntress. That means we always have to be twice on alert, lest we lose a limb or two."

"Sure, Weiss," snorted Yang. "Be morbid."

"Believe it or not, you are the least of my worries," muttered the heiress, her eyes trailing their leader who had taken lead over the path. Ruby was humming quite casually as she swished around Crescent Rose, mindlessly slashing away a few vines as they walked on by.

It's been at least two years since Team RWBY had first formed. Weiss still couldn't believe the four of them had made it so far. To be completely honest, her expectations had hit rock bottom in the Emerald Forest, back when they were still freshmen and going through the horrors of Initiation. It was that fateful day when Weiss Schnee became paired up with the loud, annoying, and insufferable Ruby Rose.

In reminisce, the experience hadn't been terrible. It had actually been much, much worse than she imagined. She had dropped at least fifty feet from the sky, rode on the back of a gigantic Nevermore, been chased by a horde of carnivorous Grimm, and nearly stung to death by a vicious Death Stalker. And by the very end of the ordeal, she had been teamed up with the strangest, oddest group of individuals.

Ruby had grown on her though. Weiss frowned, feeling ridiculous as she admitted this point. Yes, the younger girl was quite nettlesome and noisy. Yes, the girl had literally made her _explode_ during their first encounter. At times, Weiss felt more like a babysitter than a serious battle partner. But even so, Ruby had not once let her down in a fight. When the time came, the little red huntress was more than capable of holding out her own. It was infuriating at times, seeing how easily the girl could transition from a playful, immature sixteen-year-old to a capable leader.

Now, Weiss didn't know what to expect anymore. Ruby was Ruby. It never suited her to be proven wrong – but she would never deny the fact that she had misjudged Ruby on the first night. She really was the best partner anyone could ever ask for.

For more than one reason, actually… But Weiss shook her head, defeating the urge. She didn't need to think about that right now. They were on a mission. She forced herself to focus on the matter at hand.

"Think this is it?" Yang broke her thoughts, stopping as they arrived at some isolated clearing.

"Ugh, what a wretched smell," Weiss complained, holding up a sleeve to her nose. "Do you think this stench has anything to do with their recent Grimm infestation?"

"I don't think so," commented Ruby, pinching her nose as well. "It just looks like a regular old swamp. Uncle Qrow used to come home smelling like this whenever he went on seedy missions in Mistral."

"What do you think, Blake?" Yang turned to her own partner. "Do you think it smells pretty fishy?"

This succeeded in earning a hard glare from the faunus. Instead of answering the blonde, Blake shuffled away from the group, leaning over the swamp in careful observation. Weiss followed her, eager to get a start on their assignment.

"The water's too murky to see anything," she said, her amber eyes narrowing in deep concentration. "Maybe we should try a different location."

"I doubt there would be much of a difference," Weiss argued. "The man said that the Grimm were populated around these areas, didn't he? It could be possible that they don't surface unless they're provoked."

Blake frowned at the idea. "That doesn't sound like typical Grimm behavior."

"Well, we were informed that this was a special case," Weiss thought. "There's not much studies done on aquatic Grimm."

The two exchanged a long glance, both immersed in their own speculations and theories.

"You're right." Black cat ears twitched, and Blake seemed to close her eyes, focusing much of her senses somewhere else. "They might be just lying dormant for now."

"The reports also said that most of the attacks occurred during the night. Maybe the creatures are nocturnal," Weiss helpfully contributed her thoughts.

"That does sound reasonable." Blake smirked, which Weiss returned with a small satisfactory grin.

To say the very least, Weiss enjoyed Blake's company. In a way, she appreciated it the most out of the group, considering how they had more similarities than she would have originally presumed. Most importantly, they both appreciated the value of silence and privacy. And though they had their own prejudices and troubles to work past, in the end, they had become strong friends. Weiss could always rely on Blake to get on a more logical, intellectual level with her. The rest of her team…

"Woah! Look, guys! I think I caught one!"

…Perhaps not so much.

"Ruby!" Weiss hissed, turning on her heels towards her partner, who had been squatting next to the edge of the swamp. "We are not here to fish!"

Ruby had indeed caught something – something black, inky, and covered in nasty scales. It made a loud snapping sound, and the small huntress yelped, stepping backwards and dropping her fishing stick in the process.

The Grimm bounced around in the wet grass, making a strange grinding noise with its teeth. It didn't seem to fair well without oxygen though, as its movements grew slower with each second.

"Hey! Nice going, sis!" Yang encouraged her nonetheless. She bent down on her ankles, staring curiously at the black fish, which twitched and flopped rather uncontrollably in the dirt. "Maybe we should keep this one alive? Didn't Professor Peach say she wanted one as a research sample?"

"We can't capture Grimm, remember?" Weiss was quick to point out, using her usual stern voice reserved for the blonde. "Weren't you paying attention in class?"

"Why would I need to, if you can tell me everything we've ever learned?" Yang laughed, patting Weiss on the head, and earning herself another growl. Weiss was about to retort, but she stopped herself, knowing that her argument would never last.

Yang was tiring to deal with, especially with her less-than-stellar jokes and unoriginal puns. But she was an invaluable asset to the team. With her raw energy, her destructive semblance, and her contagious smile, she was the perfect counterpart to Blake. The two made sense together, regardless of what others may think.

The fish finally began to hiss, letting out a high-pitched croaking sound before it began to crack, disintegrating into a cloud of black dust.

"…So, I guess they can't survive out of water?" Ruby said out loud, poking around the spot where the fish had previously been. "What should we do then? We can't just lure the entire colony out of the swamp. Not that I would mind doing that but…"

"I think we should look around until the sun sets, cover all the grounds before it gets too dark," Weiss suggested with her arms crossed. "It'll be nice to get a better understanding of this creature and its terrain before tackling it straight on."

"Okay. Great idea." Ruby eagerly nodded at her partner's opinion. "Yang, Blake, you guys can go in that direction. Weiss and I will try over here."

"Wait." Weiss paused, a small bead of sweat trickling down her neck. "How about I go with Blake for once?"

"Huh?"

"Or Yang. I mean- We never really get to see each other."

"Uh, Weiss?" The blonde raised an eyebrow. "We share a room."

"…Nevermind," she added when the other two looked at her blankly. Without providing much of an explanation, Weiss turned around, walking off into the direction her partner had pointed to.

Ruby stayed behind, blinking in confusion with an equally perplexed duo.

"Uh… What's with her?" The girl asked, sounding moderately concerned.

"I don't know, sis. She's your partner," said Yang, shrugging. This seemed to translate as: "She's your problem, sis. Not mine!"

"Okay then?" The small huntress bit her lips, not knowing exactly how to deal with this new issue. But with two years of experience, she knew it wouldn't take much to wear down Weiss, enough to figure out what was bothering the sensitive heiress. "No worries. I'll see you guys later. Call us if you find anything interesting!"

Ruby turned, catching a glimpse of her partner's back as she quickly disappeared through the bushes.

"Weiss!" She called out. "Wait for me!"

* * *

"Why do you think Weiss didn't want to go with Ruby?" Yang wondered, scratching her head as she asked her partner. "Now that I think about it, Weiss has been acting pretty strange lately. Do you think she's mad at her or something?"

"She's not mad," said Blake shortly, not bothering to look up as she followed the trail.

"How do you know that?" The blonde questioned again, sounding confused by Blake's unjustifiable certainty.

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Blake, in turn, also looked a bit surprised.

"Noticed what?"

"...Nothing." The faunus shook her head, smiling as she found the situation a little amusing. "It's nothing."

"What?" Yang pouted. "Come on, Blake! Now I _need_ to know."

"I think we _need_ to focus on the mission actually," Blake remarked, rolling her eyes as they made their way through the fog. "Watch your step. It's pretty slippery down here."

"How clumsy do you think I am?" The blonde scoffed. "I'm not going to just trip over a random- Ouch!"

There was a loud thud, and then a splash. Blake bit back a fit of laughter, shaking slightly in mirth at the sight of her partner, half of her body immersed in green swampy water, the other half clutching onto a couple of tree roots she had tripped over.

"You were saying?" The faunus drawled, offering a hand to the blonde who grumbled something dark underneath her breath.

"Ha-ha. Very funny. I-" But Yang suddenly froze, her outstretched arm growing rigid and cold. Lilac eyes widened, pupils enlarging in abrupt horror.

"Yang?" Blake asked, stepping forward in unforeseen dread.

"It's- It's got my leg!" The blonde shouted in a panicky voice. "Something's got my leg!"

Immediately, the faunus dropped down onto her knees, grabbing the blonde by her right arm. "Whatever you do, don't let go."

"Damn it," Yang swore, her face growing pale. Her fingers dug into the earth, as if she were afraid of losing her grip. "It's trying to pull me under!"

There was a loud groan, and Yang seemed to flinch in pain. Blake's heart began to race, remembering the set of sharp teeth the Grimm had sported. And judging by the creature's size, it couldn't have been anything but a newborn hatchling. If the fish grew to be anything larger than what Ruby had caught…

"I'm going to try and pull you out on the count of three," said Blake, trying to stay as calm as possible. "One, two…"

"Three!" Her muscles contorted violently, and with a great upheaval of strength Blake managed to lift Yang out of the waters. The blonde came toppling forward, quickly and swiftly, almost- almost too easily...

"Oof!" Blake felt the air leave her lungs, as something very heavy and very wet dropped on top of her stomach. She squinted upwards, finding the blonde towering over her body, grinning down at her without a hint of previous distress. It was a familiar face: an expression of glee, with a mixture of maddening triumph.

"You..." Blake stiffened. She found herself lying with her mouth hanging open, trying to remember the rest of the sentence. It took a little over a second to realize what had happened. A flash of the quick temper in her leaped up into her eyes.

"Aw," said Yang, as she poked her partner on the forehead. "Were you that worried about me? I should try dying more often."

"Get off me," Blake growled, shoving the blonde back into the lake.

There was another loud splatter, and this time the blonde fell in entirely; her head and her body becoming submerged below the waters. Blake grunted, standing back up as she flicked the dirt off her jacket.

"I'm not falling for it again, Yang," she warned in a threatening tone. "Come out, otherwise I'm leaving you behind."

There seemed to be a series of bubbles forming from where she sank. They popped and wheezed before promptly disappearing. But otherwise, Blake received no other audible response.

"…Yang?" Blake pinched the bridge of her nose, half-hoping the blonde was just playing out one of her notorious tricks again.

The silence suddenly swelled and pressed itself against Blake's ears. She supposed under any other circumstances she would feel pleased by it, but at the moment she felt absolutely nothing at all.

Seconds passed, and the panic filled her insides once more.

Before she had another minute to think, her legs began to move. Headfirst, she dove into the water. An unpleasant, wet substance bathed her in an instant.

It was much harder to see in the water than she expected. The murky swamp kept everything from view, both dangerous and benign. Blake fought to keep them open, ignoring the piercing pain surrounding her eyelids. She searched for any signs, a single hint of golden blonde hair.

Then, she found her. A single body was floating below her, sinking slowly towards the abyss. Blake swam frantically, ignoring the deafening throbs in her eardrums, fighting an unimaginable force that aimed to push her back towards the surface.

There was a coldness in Yang's hand, an unnatural immobility in her face. A burst of bubbles erupted from Blake's mouth, yet no sound of fear or concern escaped with coherence. She grabbed onto the blonde's arm, pulling herself closer and latching on like a desperate net. She couldn't be too late. She would never forgive herself if she were. Blake locked her arms in between Yang's, grabbing the both of them and trying to climb themselves up some invisible ladder.

Blake felt the burning pressure increasing in her lungs. Her legs grew numb and tingly, beginning to fail under her will. A greater force pulled them from below. It was like a thick swirl of water and wind – some whirlpool, or a great powerful torrent of water. It began at her feet, then moved quickly along her waist. The pressure went deeper and deeper, and she felt strangely dizzy as her legs went round, their entire bodies twisting and turning with the course. The water turned raw and burned her. It sent forth fire and vapor to pursue them, and Blake was swallowed, stumbling blindly on in great pain and fear.

There was little that could be done as the current overtook her completely.


	50. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 2)

Weiss was very careful not to utter a single word of misconduct.

It was hard enough to keep herself from tripping, trekking over lumpy tree roots, angry vines, and fields of mud that seemed to eat away the pristine soles of her shoes.

Naturally, this didn't bode too well for her partner, Ruby, who was known for her infinite babbling capabilities. It took less time than Weiss expected though, for Ruby to gather that she wasn't exactly in the mood for chatter. Instead, the little red huntress trailed her in silence, attempting to figure out whether this sudden reluctance to speak was a result of her doing.

Well, Weiss bit her lip, technically it was and it wasn't.

She couldn't feel entirely guilty about making Ruby stagger behind her like a lost puppy. She felt that the girl needed to take responsibility in some shape or form.

After all, the last couple of days had been absolutely dreadful in her opinion. And the conditions of her sanity only wavered when in presence of those big silver pools disguised as eyes.

Weiss didn't know what it was that was making her act this childish. Honestly, even if she did know, she would never, in her wildest dreams, accept it to be an indisputable fact. She was, of all people, not the sort of person to feel this giddy and unprofessional about someone else. But most importantly, no amount of eye rolls, sarcastic comments, and alluded gestures from her observant faunus friend would ever get Weiss to admit that she was beginning to develop feelings for-

She stopped herself, falling short of making that same critical mistake again.

Ruby Rose was a remarkable friend, a great colleague, an enjoyable classmate, an interesting roommate, and a slightly messy, slightly scatterbrained, but always appreciated battle companion. That's what this was, and it was all that this will ever be. She would have to put her foot down on the matter.

"Um, Weiss? Mind slowing down a bit?" A panting voice broke her thoughts. "I can't really- I can't really catch my breath- Eep!"

"Ruby!" Weiss gasped, her right arm betraying her as it reached out. With surprising reflexes, the heiress managed to catch her partner before she fell head-first into the dirt.

"Uh…" Ruby grinned, her smile just an inch away from her face. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," mumbled Weiss, thrusting Ruby out of her arms as soon as the girl had regained her balance. She calmed her heart, respiring a few times before speaking in a normal octave again. "You know, for someone whose semblance is supposed to be speed, you're surprisingly slow."

"Hey, I'm just tired, okay?" Ruby retorted a bit witheringly. "I've been walking around a swamp for an hour, you know, talking to myself."

"...Sorry." The heiress knew that her partner's anger was justifiable. "I'm just- I'm a bit distracted."

"Yeah, I've noticed." Ruby cocked her eyebrow. "Are you okay? Is something wrong? Did you want to talk about it?"

"Uh... No. No, I don't think talking about it would help much," Weiss declined after a swallow. For the entire moment, she could think about nothing but brilliant methods of escape. "I think we could use a break, actually. Let's head back and regroup."

She glanced over at Ruby to see if she would be pleased with this casually blatant lie, but the huntress acted as though she didn't mind.

"Okay?" Ruby simply shrugged as she pulled out her scroll. "If you say so."

Weiss watched in relief as Ruby called for reinforcement. Another familiar face would do well to unload her burdens. Yang, however, didn't seem to be answering. Confused, Ruby tried again, this time waiting longer for the connection to last. A low buzzing sound filled the air as they listened. It came from a place not too far from the lake.

"Uh… Yang?" Ruby shouted into the fog. "Are you there?"

They peered uneasily through the bleak marshlands and twisted trunks of trees. Nothing moved but the thick streamers of mist. Ruby ventured first into the grounds, and once she returned back into view, she carried another object in her hands. It was scratched and half-covered with mud.

"That's Yang's, isn't it?" Weiss asked to confirm. "She must have dropped it while walking."

"Maybe... But Blake hasn't been replying to my messages either." Ruby frowned, looking severely at her partner. "Do you think they might be in trouble?"

"I'm sure they're both fine," Weiss said, before either of them had a chance to fret. "They might already be back at the village by now. Or they could be at that local pub the man was talking about earlier. Knowing Yang, she would have managed to drag Blake along with her."

"Maybe." Her partner appeared mildly conflicted. "I mean, yeah, you're probably right."

Ruby gave her a tiny grin, which she grudgingly returned, and they started making their way up the miry paths. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to navigate through the swamps.

The fog grew thicker as the sun began to set, but they hadn't strayed too far from the designated trail. Soon enough, Weiss could hear the rambunctious crowd of voices fill the air. In the distance, she could make out a few dim yellow lights.

A large log cabin stood at the foot of the woods. It was old, with a few flickering lamps chipped along the sides. The door creaked as they entered. Weiss took the first step, breathing in a fresh scent of dry oak and hard liquor. From inside the tavern was surprisingly cozy, with a warm fur-pelted rug decorating the floor and a gigantic warm flame crackling in the center fireplace.

"Let's try the front counter," suggested Weiss. Two people stood behind the bar: an old man, wiping a pint glass with a rag, and a young boy, looking to be slightly older than herself.

"Hi, sorry, but did my sister walk in here by any chance?" Ruby shook her head, realizing that she was being silly. "Uh, my sister- She's blonde, and she's probably with another girl, um, someone dark, mysterious, with two cat ears on her head?"

"No, I don't think I've seen anyone like that," said the old man on the right, his eyes never leaving the dirty glass he was cleaning.

"Oh." Ruby sighed, her shoulders sagging by an inch. "Okay, thanks anyway."

"Is there a problem?" The boy asked this time, obviously much more eager to help. "Did you lose a couple of your friends?"

Weiss stiffened, recognizing that spark of interest in his eyes. She had attended far too many obligatory tea parties and fancy cocktail dinners to be oblivious to that glimmer. Her partner, however, was a little under-experienced to say the least.

"Well, technically we didn't lose them." Ruby grinned sheepishly. "We just don't know where they are."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, his voice almost unduly sympathetic. "Are you girls here on vacation?"

"Does it look like we are?" Weiss retorted, wearing a thoroughly caustic expression.

"Uh, we're here on business," Ruby replied instead. "Or, training more like. We're the-"

"The huntresses from Beacon Academy," he finished her words, ignoring the other's rudeness. "Ah, I should have known from that wicked scythe you're carrying."

He pointed at Crescent Rose, which Ruby immediately retracted and cradled in her arms.

"Thanks!" Ruby beamed with an enthusiastic twinkle in her eyes. "It's also a high impact sniper rifle."

"So... It's a gun?"

"Gun-slash-scythe," Weiss cut in.

"That's cool," the boy once again breezed over. The heiress had a sense that he knew nothing about weapons, and hardly cared for the trade at all. But he seemed annoyingly determined as he leaned his body over the bar. "Well, anyways, if you girls are just out here on a rescue mission, do you have a place to stay at or...?"

"We do," the heiress snapped, as diplomatically as possible. She could feel herself getting irrationally angry but couldn't quite stop it.

"We do?" Ruby looked startled by the news.

"Yes. No, I mean... Well, the point is-" There was a long pause before Weiss spoke in coherence. "If Yang and Blake aren't here, maybe we should go back and try searching the rest of the village."

"Yeah." Ruby concurred after a second, nodding with an innocent lift of her eyebrows. "All right. Let's try that."

"Oh. I can show you around, if you want?" The boy bounded forward, pointing to himself as he volunteered for the task.

Weiss resisted the urge to throttle him, as Ruby scratched her head.

"Um, really?" She seemed rather taken aback by the offer, but like always, the red huntress could never help but be polite. "Uh... Okay, I guess? That would be great, thanks!"

"Sure. After my shift ends though," he winked, "and until then, here are two drinks for two beautiful ladies... On the house."

Weiss shot him a quelling glare and he hurried away, not forgetting to give Ruby one last smile of attempted charisma.

"Wow. That was pretty nice of him." Ruby tapped the glass, watching as few of the bubbles floated to the top surface. "But should I have told him I'm underage?"

"I doubt that would have made a difference," Weiss said in a sulky manner. "He was interested in you."

"Uh... He was... Uh..." This went on for a long time, until Ruby could reattach her jaws from the ground. "He was what?"

"He was interested in you," said Weiss again, feeling even more peeved. "Hence, the free drinks."

There was a short pause, as the small huntress stared at her, completely still as a statue.

"Nah!" Ruby ultimately snorted, ardently defensive and carefree. "No way! You're crazy."

Weiss breathed with a winded laugh, not knowing whether she should be amused or annoyed by Ruby's modest reaction. She most certainly wasn't relieved or anything- that would be simply ridiculous and petty.

"Why not?" The heiress shrugged, without giving it a second thought. "You're quite a catch, if you haven't noticed it yourself."

"Uh, no... I haven't." Ruby blinked in confusion. "But thanks?"

"I didn't exactly say you were a catch," rushed Weiss, realizing the enormity of what she had just offhandedly said. "I mean- You are. You are a definite catch, but I was just voicing a possible opinion of another, I wasn't actually stating that I think that you may be a catch or not."

"Okay, Weiss." Ruby wrinkled her nose. "Now I don't know if I should be flattered or concerned anymore."

"Neither." The heiress shuddered. "Let's just move past what I said."

"Seriously?" Ruby appeared to doubt this as being the wisest choice. "Well, I think you've got some explaining to do because you're acting really, really weird right now."

"Am I?" Weiss muttered, vaguely concerned.

"Yeah, you're acting really, really, really weird," Ruby repeated, as if two adverbs weren't enough.

"Yes." The heiress made a hard choice to acknowledge this. "I know."

"And you're still sure you don't want to talk about it?" Ruby offered again, with excessive naivete.

"I don't know if I can," the heiress replied honestly, and there was silence again.

"Weiss." Ruby's voice softened here. "What's up?"

"Uh… Well, that's an interesting question, Ruby," she answered in a conveniently convoluted manner. "I think there's about a million different answers I can give to that very interesting question."

"Yeah, and would you care to venture one?" The huntress didn't so much as blink. Her resolve was much too strong.

It was a strange sensation but part of her wished it would last. When their eyes met, Weiss felt herself growing pale. She found that she couldn't look directly into that questioning gaze. After all, it was an act of kindness, not a declaration of love.

It felt tremendous, like it was capable of swallowing her entire being. Her body filled with so many conflicting emotions that they began to cancel each other out. In the end, she felt oddly tranquil.

Weiss opened her mouth, finally, when she couldn't stand to hold it in any longer.

"Ruby," she began tentatively. "We've been partners for at least two years now."

"Yeah, I know." Ruby nodded, looking at her like she was being stupid on purpose.

"Well, some people would say that..." She heaved in a large breath, speaking almost too intensely as she explained. "You see, in most cultures, when two people are together for a long period of time, if you could call two years a long period of time, there are moments when, uh, things begin to change, and relationships, overtime, can become redefined."

"Uh..." Ruby stared at her, temporarily flummoxed. "Are you sure you're speaking English?"

"Let me rephrase that." The heiress tented her hands in front of her. "Ruby, I-"

"Wait. Hold that thought," the girl stopped her, her face turning suddenly serious.

Dread flooded through Weiss's veins, her mind immediately skipping to the worst possible conclusion: Oh no. Oh no, Ruby had noticed, hadn't she? No, argued Weiss, she would take it all back. She was having a mild stroke! A vicious fever! None of it was true at all! Not a single spoken word of-

"I have to go to the bathroom."

There was a moment of pitiful silence.

Someone could have punched her on the nose, and Weiss would still not have noticed.

"...Go ahead," she said through gritted teeth, decidedly irritated. "I'll wait here."

* * *

Her senses came back slowly, beginning with a dull drumming in the back of her head. There was a distant murmur, hovering above her like a strange echo. Blake tightened her eyes, wiggling her ears to catch the sound. Her nose unplugged and a waft of musty air came coursing through.

"Hello? Earth to Blake? Blake, come on! Wake up!"

There was a sharp tug on the front of her robes. She let out a low groan, feeling her body shake with a few sore bruises. The movement stopped in an instant. With its absence, a frantic voice took its place.

"Blake!"

She opened her bleary eyes and stared up at a rather concerned lilac gaze. Her partner's face hovered over her own, peering down at her. Their eyes met for a brief second, each wandering in a pool of confusion and worry.

It took a moment for Blake to fully gather her thoughts. The walls surrounding her were spinning, and they seemed to be half-sunken in darkness. With effort, she blinked a couple more times, coming to the slow but inevitable conclusion that Yang was lying on top of her.

Blake felt the heat rise inside her lungs, feeling the sweaty, moist surface of Yang's skin rubbing against her own; their breaths matched in rhythm, chests nearly touching, legs entangled together – the blonde was bending over her, closing in, as if she were almost about to…

"What- Yang!" Blake snapped, reacting before she could help herself.

"Ow!" There was a sharp hiss of pain as the blonde retreated. "Geez, Blake! That hurts!"

Moaning, Yang rubbed the side of her cheek, which burned with a red hand mark. "I was only checking to see if you were still breathing or not."

"Oh... Right," Blake murmured. "Sorry about that. I just thought you were, um, you were about to..."

"About to what?" Yang half-smirked, daring the faunus to finish her thoughts.

"Nothing. It's nothing," she excused herself quickly, mortified by her own imagination.

"Relax, Blake," said Yang, laughing, though she looked to be a bit flushed herself. "I would never try anything on you while you're unconscious! Just only when you're awake."

"How considerate of you," Blake said wryly, regaining her composure as the blonde winked. She tried to peek around, but her vision hadn't completely returned. The mucky water from the swamp continued to sting the corners of her eyes. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you." The blonde smiled warmly. "I appreciate it, really. I know how much cats hate going in water."

"Yang, this is so not the time." Blake groaned, rubbing the stiff side of her neck. "Where are we?"

"Um…"

The blonde seemed to take this moment to finally look around. Apparently, she had been too preoccupied to do so beforehand.

They had somehow wound up in a deep chamber of an underground cave. The ceiling was low, close enough to touch Yang's hair once they both properly stood. The sight before them was not at all appealing. The violent torrents of the water had managed to save them for the time being, but now they found themselves stranded on a hard stony island with nothing but green murky waters standing in their way. Small, loose stones littered the ground on which they stood.

Their shadows were engulfed by an impenetrable shade of black. The only source of light was an eerie green glow being emitted from the lake's surface. It was dank and the only sound, besides their own voices, was the rhythmic drips of water. There was no end to the lagoon; it extended from the edgy stones underneath their boots, stretching all the way towards the unfathomable darkness.

"Oh man…" Yang gulped. "Weiss is going to kill me."

Blake couldn't help but agree, nodding with a much more solemn expression.

"Do you have your scroll with you?" Yang questioned, frisking herself as she did so. "I can't find mine. I must have dropped it in the water somewhere."

"Hold on," said Blake, checking her own pockets in reply. Fortunately, there was something heavy and metal in the back of her pants. When she pulled it out however, the device leaked a few droplets of water from its sides.

"Any chance it'll still work?" Yang asked, almost jokingly.

"I wouldn't count on it." Blake sighed, trying a couple buttons as the screen remained unresponsive.

"Well, what do we do now?" The blonde openly pondered, rubbing at her jaw. "Should we just try calling for help?"

"I don't think anyone would hear us from here."

"Yeah..." Yang conceded rather quickly. "And I'll bet swimming is out of the question..."

"Right," Blake drawled, answering with an exasperated scoff. In her opinion, there were better ways to die than drowning, being eaten alive by a swarm of hungry aquatic Grimm.

After a while, Yang sighed as well. She turned around, deciding to explore the opposing side of the cave, which blocked their exit either way. Her hand fumbled along the jagged and uneven stone walls, as if trying to search for a hidden exit. A small crevice did exist to their right, but it was barely big enough for a young child to squeeze through.

"So I guess we're kind of stuck here," said Yang grimly, appearing to have finally grasped the severity of their situation. She punted one of the stray stones in frustration. It flew several meters into the air before plunking into the distant ripples. She winced afterwards, wobbling on her knees before standing awkwardly in the dark, leaning most of her weight onto the wall.

"Yang." Blake frowned as she noticed. "Why are you limping?"

"Uh… It's nothing." The blonde tried to hide.

"It's not nothing. You're bleeding," said Blake, nonetheless. She didn't hesitate to observe, crouching down to understand the full extent of her partner's injury.

"Oh. Am I?" The blonde scratched her chin, acting like she hadn't been aware of it herself. "I swear, I didn't even notice."

There was a definite tear right above the knee, along the outer side of Yang's left thigh. A square inch of skin was showing, but most of the blood had thankfully already clotted and dried. There was, however, a strange pattern that caught Blake's attention. Several red spots were aligned in two long elliptical lines. The faunus traced the pattern with her fingers, recognizing the puncture wounds as evidence for malformed teeth.

"It looks like the Grimm did get you," she gathered in the end. "But it doesn't seem too bad. Let me bandage it though, in case it gets infected."

She was beginning to draw out an extra set of ribbons she carried, when Yang stopped her. "Really, Blake. It's just a little scratch. No big deal! Don't worry about it."

This wasn't very convincing, as Yang still stood a bit slanted, her leg wavering in an unnaturally hitched position. Blake raised her eyebrows, knowing that the blonde would be stating that she was fine, even if she were in a serious spot of mortal peril. It took several months to recognize the difference between when her partner was being serious and when she was trying to appear brave. From the half-cringe Yang was wearing, and poorly hiding, the faunus knew it would have to be the latter.

"Yang, please," she sighed, grabbing the blonde by the arm. "Just stay still."

Blake tried her best to make her concern evident. The two exchanged a short, but intense glare, and it was (for once) Yang's turn to look away, hiding behind an embarrassed cough.

The blonde didn't fight her much after that. Having said that, she did wince a few times, whenever the faunus attempted to clean the wound. Blake couldn't help but roll her eyes as she proceeded, finding her partner's pretense almost laughable. Once the fabric was tightly wrapped around her leg, Yang let out a lengthy breath of relief.

"Thanks, Blake." The blonde gave her a tired smile. "You take such good care of me."

The faunus nodded, though she was not entirely convinced that she had helped. There was something still "off" about Yang. Maybe it had been her partner's increasingly unnatural pallor, or the fact that she hadn't made any pun-related jokes for the past five minutes, or maybe…

"Are you sure you're okay?" Blake asked again as she narrowed down her suspicions. "You're, um, you're shaking."

"I'm fine," said the blonde, wheeling around as she tried to give a good reason. "I'm just a bit cold, that's all."

"I thought you never got cold," Blake decided to say, reminded of the time Yang had gone outside on a cold Winter morning, with nothing but her socks and her thin summer pajamas on. Comparing that to now, Yang's conditions did seem more than a little strange.

"Okay, well, you know what they say..." The blonde scrunched up her face, trying to think of a witty saying in response. For once, however, words failed her as she let out a deep sigh; it was half-disguised by the sharp clattering of her teeth. "T-There's a first time for everything, right?"

Blake didn't reply, looking uneasily at her partner, whose shivers grew worse by the minute. She didn't feel cold at all herself, especially considering that the swamp was extra humid and moist. There was little frost to be seen, even at the crack of dawn. And despite being trapped in some stony underground cave, the coolness of the water had yet to affect Blake. In fact, the clothes around her felt wet and sticky, like sweat.

"I think you might have caught the flu," Blake said, realizing their situation didn't seem to be getting any better. "Here. Try taking your clothes off."

"W-Woah there, Blake!" Yang flinched, flying a few meters back when Blake reached for her shoulders. "What are you doing? We haven't even had our first kiss yet!"

"I'm just trying to help you dry off!" She retorted, turning positively scarlet at the accusation.

The blonde looked rather blank at this. Blake shook her head in disbelief, allowing the apprehension to pass on its own. After a while, Yang gave her a small, hasty smile. Suddenly obedient, she shed off her brown leather jacket and passed it to her. To avoid complications, the faunus didn't ask for any more than that.

"It's been two years already. You have got to stop turning every scenario into something inappropriate..." Blake grumbled, taking the blonde's jacket and squeezing the remaining droplets out from its sleeves.

"Sorry." A teasing grin crossed Yang's face, one that she couldn't quite suppress. "Y-You're just adorable when you're mad."

"I am not," Blake grunted underneath her breath. She didn't know what to think. Yang never gave her much space to muse over such matters.

She knew that certain people had various difficulties with communication, not being able to express enough affections to present their line of interest. With Yang, she had the opposite problem. There was an excess of it, really, and Blake often had trouble deciphering how much of her partner's actions were sincere and how much of it were just for her own twisted sense of enjoyment.

"Here," she said gruffly, handing the jacket back to its owner.

"T-Thanks," said Yang as she wore it again. She grimaced as the coldness of the fabric ran over her bare arms. Blake watched quietly, her mind racing again as she tried to keep her partner from ironically freezing to death.

"Um, did you- Do you want me to…?" Blake paused, knowing that she would never hear the end of it if she ever shared her next thought.

"W-What did you s-say?" Yang asked, appearing almost sad as she huddled in a corner, her arms hugging around her knees.

"Just…" Blake sighed in reluctant defeat. "Just don't make a big deal out of this."

And before the blonde had any chance to laugh, or wink, or slip in another unsuitable joke, the faunus scooted over as quickly as possible, squeezing herself in between Yang's arms and hugging her torso closer to her own.

Blake's ears folded down, part in embarrassment as she felt Yang's body grow rigid in turn. For a second, even her violent quivers altogether ceased. Then, she allowed for her breaths to slow, in slight relief as the blonde's figure slowly began to ease into hers. An erratic beating reached her ears, echoing against the cavern's walls and her heart.

"You know..." Yang seemed to finally recover enough to say. "I heard this works b-better when we're both naked."

Blake preferred not to respond. She doesn't smile, for the record.


	51. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 3)

The tension in her muscles had finally started to subside. Yang felt the coldness leave the air as quickly as it came. Yet she held onto her partner even tighter, much tighter than she probably should have. There was a quiet grunt, accompanied by an adorable movement from Blake's ears. She felt one of them prod the side of her neck. The blonde giggled, feeling its minuscule twitch as she rested her chin on top of Blake's head.

"Yang?" Blake's voice was a little too breathless, even to her own ears. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Mph."

"If you are, then maybe we should…" Blake tried to suggest, but her words were effectively silenced, drifting off as Yang ran her arms closer to her waist. The temperature of the cave rose once more. The blonde grinned playfully, feeling oddly satisfied as she felt the heat rise within Blake's chest. She'd been listening to the sound of her heart, counting each erratic fleeting beat. She had memorized it, to be exact.

"Maybe we should try coming up with an actual plan," Blake finished unevenly, attempting hard to be reasonable against all odds. It was a talent of hers, really. Yang let out another humorous laugh, this time glancing down to catch the fresh look of discomposure on her partner's visage.

"Unless, of course, you would prefer to stay this way?" Blake asked as a slow afterthought. She stiffened along with the question, as if feeling ambivalent to the cause. There was a small bit of longing reflected in her eyes, like blown embers in the dark. The blonde wasn't sure whose it belonged to. Consequently, she didn't answer, delighting herself with the new conundrum.

"Yang," sighed Blake, realizing how difficult of a job it was to take care of someone else. "I need you to speak in full sentences now."

"Says the queen of the mono-syllable," Yang quipped, feeling an abrupt urge to banter.

"Well, I think I may have been dethroned," Blake drawled.

"Then I'll take it," the blonde accepted, endeavoring to wink, "but only if it comes with a big golden crown."

Blake rolled her eyes, appearing terribly unimpressed. "You just can't help yourself. Can you?"

"I'm very consistent that way." Yang nodded. "It's one of my lesser known charms."

She looked quickly at Blake and suppressed a grin, knowing that her partner would be torn between seeming angry and amused. They exchanged a lively glance, the color in their eyes never dimming for a second. Yang resisted even the urge to blink, breathing in and out as she strengthened their gaze. Her face twisted into a peevish smile.

It was a vague concern of hers; Yang didn't remember ever feeling this needy, almost as if she were craving for a certain connection between the two. In any other circumstances, she would have kept herself from behaving so childishly. But her blood chilled, her veins ran thin even at the mere thought of being apart.

"Blake, I-"

"Yang." But Blake interrupted her, squirming a bit uncomfortably on the spot. "We should really… You know…"

There was a definite edge to her partner's voice. Yang had noticed it before and knew better than to ignore it again. With great reluctance, the blonde loosened her grip, allowing for Blake to pull back an inch and stare at her face. She didn't relinquish everything though – her hands still stubbornly remained in a knot, keeping a gentle but solid hold around her torso.

"There," said Yang, whining as much as she dared. "You happy?"

"Extremely," Blake deadpanned, though she appeared less so when she noticed the other's complexion. "Now, how are you feeling?"

"Never been better," she mumbled in return, her words aflame with dishonesty.

In truth, she hadn't felt like herself ever since she woke up along the rocky shores of the cave. It had taken much effort on her part, pretending as though she was perfectly fine, in case of setting off another wave of panic with her partner's endearing worries. But it seemed as though nothing ever got past Blake.

Her eyebrows knitted together, in feeble shock, as something cold touched her forehead with the softest pressure.

"I don't understand," said Blake, biting her lip as she felt the unforeseen fever. "You were freezing just a moment ago."

"It must be because of you," Yang replied, without having to think at all. "You know, since you're so incredibly hot."

The instant she said it, the blonde knew she had pushed it too far.

Blake's glare hardened, if it were even possible at this point. "This is serious-"

"I know. I swear, I wasn't trying to flirt," Yang cut her off, to try and make up for her inadvertent error. "At least, I didn't mean to. I mean, I was thinking it but I wasn't going to say it. You know, some things should never be said out loud, you know what I mean?"

"No." Blake frowned. "Do you?"

"Not really." The blonde groaned, holding the weight of her head in her hands. "Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit…fuzzy right now, and you're just really good at distracting me from that."

This was a rather poor explanation and wouldn't help with the situation at all. Even Yang, herself, knew that now was not an appropriate time for a joke. And she hadn't exactly been planning on being witty. No, the words had simply slipped out of her, as if a filter no longer existed between her mouth and her stupid, aching brain.

"I didn't mean that either," she added, and then quickly clamped her mouth shut again. It seemed to be the wisest choice.

With a weary sound that was not a sigh or a groan, Yang broke apart from her. She relaxed her hold, with some spirit of a sullen submission.

The blonde closed her eyes for a moment, trying to rest them as the surrounding walls spun around once more. Her headache was steadily growing worse, but there was something else, a strangely unearthly feeling rising from the tip of her toes. It was unsettling, like a tangible fog crawling up from underneath her skin.

"Yang," a voice purred.

It was a sudden transition: She blinked. She stared.

Blake was wearing an unnaturally bright smile; even with nothing but the greenish shimmer of the lake, there was a mesmerizing twinkle being cast upon her eyes. She glowed in the softest, warmest shade of the entire spectrum.

The blonde shook her head, quiet for a bit, transfixed as Blake came in and out of focus. A new voice overlapped with the other.

"Yang, what's wrong?"

This Blake was entirely different. There was a desperate frown on her noticeably pale face. Yang followed the gesture, scrunching up her eyebrows with double the confusion. She could have sworn that the faunus had been happy just a while ago. Yang would have remembered, if she had done something to upset her…

Her vision began to flicker violently, and with each second came a gaping hole of nothingness. After a minute of silence, Blake would be smiling again. Then a second later, she would be leaning towards her, her face contorted with wild concern.

The same tingling feeling – it was riding up her spine now. It wrapped itself around her neck, like a stealthy touch of a slithering snake.

Then, suddenly, the ringing in her head ceased its incessant torture. There was a thunderous silence, like something had flown by and wiped every thought, every instinct out of her mind. The pain vanished in an instant. It was a momentous blur. It made her feel heavenly, the experience of it almost akin to floating on a drifting cloud, virtually euphoric to all of her six senses. She forgot fear and even caution.

And yet, this feeling, it was more unpleasant than anything she'd ever experienced before in her life. She had broken bones before, sure, she had felt the pain of torn muscles and bruises, but this- this didn't feel like an injury at all. And before she could help it, before she could make out any apologies or forewarning, Yang felt her consciousness slip once more.

She was awake. She could feel her mouth opening once again to speak, but she heard nothing resembling the sound of her own voice.

* * *

Ruby had approximately three minutes and twenty one seconds to think about the current situation.

First and foremost, Weiss was acting weird.

This wasn't a "good" sort of "weird" either, not like the nice little quirks her partner would show once in a while, during moments of occasional slip-ups.

Weiss was acting unusual, long before she had actually done something that would require such a drastic change of character. Unless Ruby had missed the origin of it, which granted by her short attention span was always a possibility, this abrupt change didn't make much sense.

The obvious flares had been going off for nearly seven days straight now, as her partner's strange mannerisms have been prolonging for more than a single week. Of course, this was just a personal estimate. This oddity could have been going on for much longer, considering the fact that the heiress didn't allow herself to be very present around Ruby for the past month.

Now, in reminisce, the two problems probably shared a strong commonality. Ruby knew that it had something to do with her. Weiss never had a problem with Yang or Blake in the room. She always acted perfectly calm and civil around them.

The first time Ruby had noticed was during the end of their last semester. The team was bidding each other farewell for the upcoming summer vacation. Blake didn't seem to have a clear destination in mind, quickly prompting Yang to invite her over to stay with them in Patch.

Ruby, deciding to be a good team leader, had mirrored her sister's actions and made the exact same offer to Weiss, who always appeared reluctant to return to Atlas anyway.

This harmless question had left Weiss in a flurry of stutters and several indecipherable hand gestures and coughs. At the end of which, the heiress politely declined, stating that she would be astronomically busy over the break, training with her older sister, Winter. Blake had declined as well, clearly not wishing to impose, and likely intimidated by Yang's much too eager tone of voice.

But that hadn't been the point. The point had been the look on Weiss's face at the time – how flustered she had become, how her cheeks impersonated the color of Ruby's cloak, or a bush of roses, or anything else that came in the shade of crimson and red.

Once they reunited at Beacon for their second term, her partner's queerness only seemed to grow. Weiss would be irresistibly charming and considerate for a day, bringing her a batch of freshly baked cookies, then completely disappear on her for the next. She would offer to let Ruby copy her notes, then chastise her for five days straight about not following a rigorous study schedule. She would take care of her, bring her warm soup when she was bedridden with a cold, then act as if she hadn't fallen asleep by her side, holding her hand as they lay dangerously cramped upon Ruby's hammock.

Also, on top of everything else, Weiss was beginning to stare. She would stare at her often, much like how Yang would steal a couple of glances at Blake during breakfast or lunch. If the heiress always made fun of her sister, jabbing at her for being so transparent with her affections, then how on earth was Ruby supposed to interpret the smiles she would receive, whenever Weiss assumed she wasn't paying attention?

There was a spark there. And it was weird. It was definitely weird.

So, Ruby pretended not to notice in the beginning, allowing the heiress to work things out herself. Then, it started to reach a level of severity that even Ruby couldn't ignore. Weiss would love to think that she was being discreet, getting away with whatever it was that was troubling her. But Ruby had her trapped in a corner. And now, finally, with this recent trip, she had gathered enough pieces of evidence to confront her stubborn partner. It would be a glorious moment, indeed. Because even Weiss, the master dodger of questions, could not deny these facts.

She had the proof, sure, the verification needed to start pulling accusations – yet a definite reason still remained far from Ruby's grasps.

Weiss had been prepared to tell it, perhaps, if Ruby hadn't taken that extra-large cup of coffee before their flight to Mistral.

She reprimanded herself in the mirror, sighing as she turned on the tab to wash her hands. Her own speculations only went so far. She knew better than to get too creative with her theories. But then again…

"You're quite a catch," Weiss had said, "if you haven't noticed it yourself."

Ruby blinked, her cheeks growing warm as the scene replayed in her mind. That was a compliment, if she ever heard one coming from the Ice Queen herself. But really, there was no reason for Ruby to feel so giddy about it or anything. There was no subtext to read into or analyze there.

They were just friends, right? Yeah. Probably.

Ruby frowned, not liking how her mind trailed from there. Perhaps, in some way, the interruption of Weiss's speech had nothing to do with her bladder at all. Perhaps, she simply didn't want to hear the truth, whatever it may be, whether or not it would answer the undying questions she feared too greatly to ask.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Ruby cleared her throat and wiped her hands on her skirt to dry. Hoping that it wasn't Weiss coming to check up on her, she opened the door, realizing that she had been taking way too long with her ruminations.

Fortunately or not, it was the young man from the counter. He looked just as pleasantly surprised as before by her appearance.

"Hi?" She greeted him in confusion. "Sorry, but isn't this the girl's bathroom?"

"There's only one bathroom, actually," he said, grinning as he pointed to the sign on the door.

"Oh." Ruby, feeling sheepish, stepped out of the way. "Uh, then I guess it's all yours."

The man nodded his head, laughing at her poor attempt to chitchat. "I'll see you back at the bar then," he said coolly.

"Yeah." The huntress sighed, her mind still muddled with thoughts of Weiss. "Sure."

She had taken barely ten steps forward when an explosion erupted from behind her. She swung around on her heels and found the shack to be shaking; a large hole had burst through its shabby ceiling. There was another booming blast, a rushing stream of water. A loud steely clang followed, and so did a high-pitched pain-streaked scream.

Ruby grabbed the handle at once and jiggled it harshly. The door was jammed, or locked by the looks of it.

"Hey!" Ruby pounded with her fists. "Are you all right in there?"

This time, there was no verbal response, simply the gushing sound of a flowing river. Taking a step back, she activated Crescent Rose, feeling safer once she was armed. She hesitated for a moment, with one foot on the door, ready to kick it down by force if she had to.

"I'm coming in!" She announced herself beforehand, just again to be sure.

The door came crashing down in an instant, her thick boots breaking through the weakened structure of its wooden panels.

Thankfully, the young man was fully dressed. The bathroom, however, was half-destroyed, the tiles flooded with water, sprinkled by parts of debris and shards of broken glass. The sink was gone, replaced by an empty space in the ground; an open pipe stood erect from its center, spewing water out like a fountain.

"Oh, geez! Are you okay?" She tried to shake him awake. He moaned and rolled over onto his back, but otherwise made no other effort to move.

There was a small puddle of blood collecting underneath his arm. She cranked her head, peering over his shoulder to get a better glance. His wound was easy to discern. A set of fresh teeth marks were imprinted across his wrist in bright red.

If that was the mark that it left behind, Ruby processed, then where was the Grimm?

She held her breath and listened. For a minute all was still, uncannily still. Then she heard it – the violent clattering of teeth coming from behind.

Swish!

A large black shadow whizzed across her face. It nearly nicked the tip of her right ear as she turned. But before Ruby could punch another hole in the wall, the Grimm was already lying defeated on the floor, twitching with its body sliced perfectly in half. This one was much larger than the first one they had found in the swamps. It was thin, but as long as her own arm.

With one last snap of its jaws, the fish soon disintegrated, the remaining black dust fading away into the void. Underneath the door frame stood another armed figure.

"Whoa!" Ruby yelped, holding up her weapon in belated defense. "Weiss! When did you get here?"

"…I leave you alone for five minutes," the heiress panted with a grim expression, "and you're already out breaking public property."

"So, I may have broken down the door." Ruby blew hair out of her face with an angry puff. "But the rest was not me, okay?"

"Well, are you hurt?" Weiss asked instead, still clutching mighty hard onto the handle of her sword. "Is he okay? What happened in here?"

"I don't know." Ruby sighed, kneeling beside him again as she put pressure on his wounds. "I came in here and everything was a mess. And then that Grimm came out of nowhere, which you took care of. Oh, and thanks, by the way."

"No problem," Weiss grumbled, dusting herself hastily as she stopped to take a breath. "The drains here must be linked to the village's sewage system and the lake… Yang was right. This is not going to be a pleasant trip for any of us."

"If it helps, I don't think this one swam out of the toilet," Ruby pointed out, seeing as though the bowl was one of the few objects left standing. "It probably came up from that pipe over there and broke through the entire sink and-"

She soon stopped herself, catching the look of vexation on her partner's face.

"If!" She added with an eye-roll. "I said _if_ it helps."

"Well, whoever heard of fish swimming through pipes and being able to break through walls?" Weiss sighed, hardly believing her ears.

"Yeah, but you're the one who said we should be prepared for anything that comes our way." Ruby shrugged. "And super powerful fish Grimm definitely counts as something."

Their conversation ended there, with Weiss's next words being drowned by a low deep groan. The man on the ground had begun to mumble and shiver, his blood still coloring the water pooling around their feet.

"Oh, right!" Ruby smacked herself on the forehead, blabbering an apology. "Sorry, are you okay? Weiss, is he going to be okay?"

"I think he may need some medical attention," Weiss muttered darkly. "Let's take him to a doctor first. We'll have to figure things out from there."

* * *

Yang being silent always seemed so appealing in theory. In practice however, there was nothing more terrifying.

All forms of communication had ceased, ever since Yang fumbled out a few words of incoherence. Now, she sat there, completely unresponsive.

"Yang?" Blake shouted at her, with as much concern as she could muster. "Yang, can you hear me? Yang!"

"…Blake?" The blonde murmured, without opening her eyes. She sounded confused, as if the screams only just reminded her that she wasn't alone.

"Yes." She swallowed, trying to act calm. "It's me. I'm here. Talk to me."

Yang finally looked at her. And by looked, Blake meant looked directly through her. Her pupils moved around lazily, unfocused. They almost appeared…loopy, for the lack of a better word. Then, they drifted along, her gaze hovering over their heads. And before Blake had a bit to wonder why, Yang's hands were already outstretched.

"W-What are you doing?" She flinched a second too late as Yang began to smile fanatically. Her fingers curled, rolling around the stems of her ears.

Blake's knees would have buckled, if she wasn't kneeling on the ground to begin with. It was electric. An inexpressible shiver ran through her, and her flesh shook, quivering under the skills of Yang's warm delicate hands. For a moment, she didn't seem to have a voice to disagree.

"No more bow. I like that about you." Yang grinned, lost in some kind of a dream but enjoying it, oblivious to her partner's expression of priceless horror. "Your kitty ears. They're so soft."

"Yang-" Blake nearly choked, finding herself in a scene she would have never imagined. A natural instinct was fighting to take over, roaring tremendously within her chest.

"Stop!" She finally managed to get a word in, gasping as she escaped from her partner's hold.

"Aw... You are such a cat." The disappointment in her voice was quite palpable. "Zwei always lets me pet him when I'm bored."

Blake scowled at the comment.

It was always easier to default to anger. As a faunus, she wasn't foreign to such ways. And she certainly wouldn't stand for being treated like anybody's pet, even if the said person was Yang.

But no, the faunus frowned. Her partner would know for a fact that her comment was something way out of the line. Yang liked to have her fun, but never at the expense of somebody else's discomfort. And the blonde, by far than anyone else, would know how uncomfortable Blake felt about being demeaned in such a manner.

"Yang, are you okay?" She asked again loudly, exaggerating the movement of her lips. "You're not... You're not acting like your usual self."

Her partner looked rather blank at this. She was beginning to lose confidence when the blonde groaned, bending inwards as she wore an expression of distress.

"Ugh... Blake." The blonde suddenly groaned in reply, crouching over and burying her face in her hands. "I think something's seriously wrong with me."

"What? What is it?" The faunus rushed frantically. "Does your head hurt? Is it your leg again?"

"No. But I think my eyes are broken," said Yang, quite dramatically.

"Can you... Can you not see anything?" Blake whispered, holding onto the blonde's hand as she tried to rack her brains for a plausible explanation.

"I can see fine. That's the problem." The blonde furrowed her eyebrows, as if she were squinting at something in the dark. "When I close them, I shouldn't see anything at all. But I see your face, Blake. I see your face, looking down at me."

"And Blake," she continued to say, as Blake temporarily forgot how to breathe. Yang sat forward and smiled affectionately at her. "You're really pretty."

There was a definite psychotic glint to her words.

Then, the blonde broke off into an unexpected fit of giggles. There was no real peril but Blake felt the urge to take a step back.

It had been a simple search and destroy mission, she thought grimly. So why did nothing ever go according to plan?


	52. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 4)

They had just left the cottage behind as a storm broke out from overhead. It didn't feel like the usual rain, the deluge so heavy that droplets turned the neighboring dirt to mud. Water sluiced down upon them as a scent of freshly washed leaves and wet earth stung their noses.

Weiss stared up into the air, concern brewing as a crowd of grey clouds filled the gaps of the sky. The rain showed no sign of relenting as rumbles of thunder began to echo from distant mountain tops.

"We better hurry," Weiss ushered, adjusting the man's weight on her left shoulder. Ruby, who stood on the other side of him, nodded quietly.

Trudging along the swamps grew into an even greater task, carrying a grown man between the two of them. They had to walk slowly, but surely, avoiding holes and uneven edges of the field. The man's skin had paled significantly, appearing sickly and bleak. Ruby glanced at him every second he moaned, muttering a few words they didn't understand.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Ruby asked nervously as they traced most of their steps back to the village paths. The place was nearly empty, most people finding it sensible to take shelter from the rain.

"I don't know," Weiss grunted in reply, equally flummoxed. The man's injury, which even to a normal civilian, wasn't very deep. "Maybe he just has a low tolerance for pain," she mumbled in a petty afterthought.

Ruby paused, growing slower in her steps as she stared, not very discreetly, in her partner's direction.

"Weiss, um... Can I ask you something else?" Ruby tried again, this time with a much more anxious undertone.

For some reason, Weiss knew that the subsequent question would have little to do with their mission. The heiress took in a shaky breath, her mind suddenly mirroring Ruby's twitchy actions.

"Go ahead," she replied, with a shameful attempt at nonchalance.

"So..." Ruby pursed her lips. "About before…"

"Yes?"

"What were you going to tell me?" Ruby hesitantly asked as she stared down at her boots. "Before- Before you know… You got interrupted."

"You mean before you interrupted me?"

"Yeah." Ruby grinned for a short moment, before returning to a pensive mood. "What were you going to say?"

Her hold on the man slackened for a moment, and they stumbled; instinctively, Ruby grabbed them both, helping Weiss to regain her balance.

For a short while, the heiress was at a loss for words. She didn't think Ruby would be quite so serious with the matter. To be completely honest, she didn't think her partner was observant enough to care.

"I… I was going to say that…" The heiress breathed in, feeling small once again. She never knew how little confidence she had in herself, a senseless panic rising in her chest as Ruby's eyes pierced into hers.

"I shouldn't have declined your invitation to visit your house this summer," she blurted out, the very first thought that came to her mind, which was a rather stupid decision on her part. Ruby stared at her in return, evidently puzzled by the unexpected answer.

"…Oh. Really?" Ruby blinked a couple times as they walked ahead in drowned silence.

"I mean- It was rude to say no like that," Weiss went on, realizing that she would have to continue with the story if she ever hoped to patch things up to normality. "I hope you didn't take it too personally."

"No, not at all." Ruby seemed to laugh at the very idea. "It's not like it was that big of a deal anyway. Yang wanted to invite Blake, so it would be weird if you weren't there."

"Of course." Weiss grimaced, trying to sound unaffected as she felt her throat tighten. "Because that is why you extended the invitation, correct? To make the numbers even?"

"Um... You mean I invited you because we're a team, right?" Now it was Ruby's turn to appear slightly offended. "Because you're my partner and I wanted you there too?"

"But hypothetically speaking, if we weren't partners, would we have gotten along?" Weiss continued, suddenly invested in the question she had never tried addressing, too afraid of what it may imply.

"Well, yeah. Probably." Ruby shrugged, not recognizing the built-up tension in Weiss's eyes. "We would both still be at Beacon."

"Cardin and his team are also at Beacon," Weiss voiced out her thoughts. "And you don't have a very high opinion of them."

"Sure," scoffed Ruby as she rolled her eyes. "But that's different! You're nothing like Cardin and his goons."

Weiss passed her a withering look. "You understand what I'm saying though. I wasn't exactly a saint to you when we first met."

Ruby crinkled her nose, a funny expression of amusement in her eyes as she remembered their disasterous meeting. "Well, to be fair, I'm not so great at making first impressions either."

"Sometimes I wonder just how different everything would be if I left you in that forest," Weiss carried on, lowering her voice as if she couldn't decide whether she wanted her words to be heard or not. "What if I ended up partnering up with somebody else instead? What then?"

"Does it matter?" Ruby snorted, to which Weiss shot her a rather stern look. Ruby stared back at her nonetheless, smiling with a relish. "I like you, Weiss. I would have liked you, no matter what."

Her feet forgot how to function, as Weiss stopped there in the middle of the storm. Feeling profoundly safe, she stood drunk on the unexpected output of affections. Ruby's attention was still aimed towards her, she could practically see the sincerity oozing out of her partner's mere presence.

A loud moan broke their connection, and a sudden deadweight struggled against her shoulders.

"Oh! We're almost there," Ruby reassured the man, whom the heiress had momentarily forgotten. The two shared a short look, with Weiss passing her a quick nod of understanding. Later, Ruby gestured, as the conversation adjourned.

The pair walked the rest of the fifty feet in silence; the heiress was immensely relieved once she saw a familiar sign of the village hospital. It was small, with yellowish-white walls specked with grayish spots along the front entrance. They knocked once, twice more when unanswered, and the door swung open with haste.

An old man stood under the doorway, dark hair thinning along the line of his forehead; fashioning his face was a pair of thick coke-bottle glasses, reflecting two cartoonish large eyes. He wore a doctor's coat, at least, and was sagacious enough to figure out what had happened upon first glance. He ushered them in, closing the door behind as they made their way towards the empty hospital beds.

Ruby groaned, feeling much better as she removed the injured man from her shoulders, dropping him off onto the soft mattress of clean, white sheets.

"Was it the Grimm?" The doctor asked, and Weiss nodded dismally in return. His face paled quite considerably. "That's the fifth victim this week."

"He's been like this for a while. Is he going to be okay?" Ruby questioned, watching anxiously as the doctor sprung out his stupor, running around here and there as he retrieved his box of supplies. The man was too busy to address her inquiry, scavenging through belongings to find a sharp metal container. Opening it, he picked out a syringe, flicking the needle with clear greenish liquid.

"What's that?" Ruby asked again, her eyes widening. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sedating him," the doctor answered simply, sinking the needle deep into the man's arm without a second of forethought. The two huntresses shared a confused look, watching the young man, who appeared perfectly still from their perspective.

"He seems stable enough," Weiss said in a skeptical manner. "Why would you need to do that?"

"Oh, well, as you know, these Grimm, they have a very specific type of venom," he explained half-heartedly. "It's safer for the patient to be unconscious than to-"

"What venom?" Ruby skimmed over his words, silver eyes widening in shock. "The Grimm- They're venomous?"

The doctor finally turned towards her, similarly thunderstruck. "You mean you didn't know?"

"No! Of course we didn't know!" Ruby piped with a rather panicky voice. "Is this the face of someone who knew?"

"How lethal is this venom?" Weiss quickly pressed, approaching the bed as the doctor returned to bandaging the young man's wounds.

The doctor shook his head. "It's not enough to be life-threatening. It's treatable. At least, as long as it's not in large dosages."

"So what happens when you're bitten?"

"Headaches, fevers, fatigue, and vertigo," listed the doctor as he pulled out a different syringe. "If serious, the patient may also experience hallucinations and a temporary loss of self-control."

"…Well, that's not good," said Ruby, to put it mildly.

"He's going to be fine though, I've given him an antidote. You brought him in before anything could happen. I thank you for that." The man sighed as he stood up from his stool. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make a few calls. I'll be right back…"

The doctor readjusted his coat, taking a few books from his desk. After a short courteous bow, he exited through the backdoor. As soon as the man left, Ruby began to pace around the room.

"Blake and Yang," Ruby pointed out in a worried tone. "They don't know about this. And we have no way of warning them either."

"For heaven's sake…" Weiss huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Where could they have gone?"

"I think we should head back to the swamps," Ruby petered on with a countenance of horror. "I mean, maybe they were attacked, and they were bitten or- or something happened to them, and now they're still out there in the rain because they're lost and hurt and caught in a storm-!"

"Ruby, sit down," Weiss tried to insist, growing dizzy from her partner's constant movements. "It's going to be okay."

"They're missing, Weiss!" Ruby retorted as she persisted to stand in the most uncomfortable way possible. "Blake's missing. Yang is missing. She's missing!"

"Ruby, listen to me," Weiss said with force, grabbing Ruby by the shoulders and rendering her mouth shut. "This is Yang we're talking about. Your sister."

"Thank you, Weiss," groaned Ruby, "for restating the obvious."

"I meant that she's strong." Weiss passed her a scathing glance, though her hands remained around her in firm solace. "She's stubborn, just like you, so she won't go down easily. And I trust Blake to have kept her from doing anything too hazardous."

Ruby listened, though appearing not entirely convinced.

"Trust me," Weiss said without a doubt, giving her a rare display of loving care. "We'll find them."

"…We'll find them," Ruby repeated her words, like a mantra. Her eyes seemed less troubled though, a grin forming by her lips again as she stared into her partner's eyes.

Suddenly, Weiss realized what she had been doing, mad at herself for losing her inhibitions again. She retracted her hands when she noticed, doing so almost astonishingly fast that, surely, Ruby would have noticed as well.

"So… In regards to the plan…" The heiress attempted to change the subject, but her voice died along the way, her recipient choosing to ignore her as the silence swelled.

"...Hey, Weiss," Ruby addressed her again, showing off a strangely absent smile. "Are we friends?"

"I thought we already established that," she replied wryly.

"I mean, are we _just_ friends?" Ruby reiterated softly, acting as though she knew more of Weiss's intentions than she knew herself.

The heiress repeated the question in her head, abruptly dizzy at the thought. She acquiesced, of course, not knowing how to act but the contrary.

"What else would we be?" She answered, much too slowly.

In her anxiety to be calm, Weiss made her voice rather cool, and the frosty change in demeanor seemed to upset Ruby, for her smile vanished; the girl nodded gravely, facing the door with a strange complexion.

"Should we get going then?" Ruby suggested quietly.

"Yes," said Weiss, feeling her mouth run dry. "Yes, we should."

Was it her mistake? Ruby almost sounded...disappointed.

* * *

There was something loud and formidable echoing from above. Blake closed her eyes, focusing her ears towards any sources of life nearby. The only sound she heard was of heavy rain, and a violent crack along the sky – vicious rumbles of a neighboring thunderstorm.

Hurriedly, she stared out into the waters; the surface of the lake was no longer steady, breaking and rippling into all sorts of shapes, dancing wildly through the darkness. There was a new sound, one imminently closer, splashing at the edges of fallen rocks and stony crevices. The scent of moss and dirt grew ever more prominent.

Blake ran forward, picking up the coat she had left to dry on the ground. One of its sleeves had been soaked thoroughly, half-sunken in green mucky waters. Her heart plummeted, then lurched up at once, feeling as though it may escape her throat with acid and vile.

"The water level's rising," whispered Blake as she faced Yang. The tension, if possible, grew stronger. "We need to get out of here, right now."

"Now?" The blonde frowned, with her eyes barely focused. "But why would we want to go now?"

Yang acted oddly amused, beaming as she looked at the space around her, mumbling something about the ocean and a beautiful honeymoon.

Blake attempted to control her nerves, swallowing down the worst of her words as she fought to remain calm. Yang's state hadn't improved over the hours; if at all possible, she seemed to be getting gradually worse. It was almost as if the blonde were trapped in some euphoric dream – or a nightmare disguised in pleasantry. Blake had tried arguing. She had tried yelling. She had tried coaxing, and any method of flirting her partner would appreciate, but nothing had broken the spell.

Blake didn't know what the problem was, and it agonized her to feel so incredibly useless and alone. Had Yang been drowning for longer than she imagined? Had the water from the swamp seeped into her brain and somehow poisoned her mind? …Or it could be- It could be her leg. Blood poisoning – She had read about it before, and the consequences of it were not trifling if left untreated. She needed to get Yang out of here, no matter the costs. And if she couldn't figure out a solution soon, then they would be trapped in this cave to drown.

"Listen to me, Yang," Blake said again, this time with a much more frighteningly urgent tone. "We need to get back to Ruby and Weiss. They're never going to find us here, and if they don't find us, then we're…"

Blake shook her head at the thought, scornfully wishing she had been somewhat of an optimist. "We can't face the Grimm here. Not in the water, it's impossible. But if we find a way out, then at least we'll have a fighting chance."

"…You mean against the army of angry fish monsters?" Yang asked, after a long period of thoughtful silence. Blake nodded fervently, thankful that her messages were finally getting through. Her hopes, though, were quickly dashed as the blonde released another harmless grin. "Don't worry about it, Blake. I won't let anything hurt you."

This was possibly a very sweet thing to say, if not for the situation.

"Yang, if we stay here any longer we're going to drown!" She spoke her last words in a tired hiss. The blonde's neck snapped up, appearing alarmed by the abrupt ringing in her ears.

The water never stopped for their benefit; waves began to rush in, more rapidly than before. She could feel the water at the heels of her shoes, swishing against them as the moisture seeped through. Her heart raced, her attention flickering between her partner's eyes and the creatures that would ascend upon them soon enough.

"Please, Yang." Blake looked straight into her partner's dopey eyes, cupping both her cheeks to encompass her desperation. "I can't lose you like this. I don't know what's wrong, but there's nothing I can do for you here. I need you to pull through this. I _need_ you. I can't do this on my own."

Big lilac eyes blinked at her from the shadows. It took a few seconds, each one lasting as long as a century, until for a single instant, she saw the mist clear from her partner's visage; it was too quick of a change, nearly impossible to read if Blake hadn't been staring so intently. Then, the smile returned to Yang's lips: a mellow grin, almost appearing submissive and forlorn.

The faunus felt her lungs tighten as Yang moved forward, her concerns finally reciprocated by a weak, understanding hold on her hand.

"I'm sorry," Yang said quietly as she stared, her grip never wavering. Her voice sounded smaller somehow, and brittle. It was this, and much more, which Blake could not so readily understand.

"Can you walk?" Blake whispered, fearing what would happen if their hands ever did part ways.

Yang nodded, hobbling as she stood.

"I want you to stay close to me," Blake asked of her, offering her shoulder to lean on. And to her surprise, the blonde listened, allowing most of her weight to balance against hers.

"I don't think I have a choice," Yang murmured, locks of her tangled hair dampening the side of Blake's face. She stumbled, after two and a half steps. Blake dove forward, catching her before she flopped.

"How about I carry you instead?" Blake suggested, turning her back to Yang as she bent her knees. "Think you can hold on to me for five more minutes?"

"Just five?" Yang chuckled weakly as she practically collapsed on top of her. "How about for eternity?"

"You're heavy." Blake tried to joke as Yang's feverish arms curled around her neck. "Be reasonable."

"I'm never reasonable. You know that," the blonde mumbled into her neck, blinking with dull wet eyes. "Blake, I can't… I'm going to fall asleep."

"It's okay," Blake eased her, hoping that her voice alone would be enough to keep her partner's spirit alive. "Stay with me, just for a little longer, okay?"

"Okay. Okay… I can do that." Yang seemed to let out another one of her heavenly sighs. "Man, I am so glad I'm marrying you," she whispered lazily, her breath tickling the side of Blake's neck.

"Yeah..." Blake swallowed, not knowing what else to say. "Me too."

She took in a quivering breath, rehashing her own plan inside her head. Could she even call it a proper plan? Blake wondered. It sounded closer to a suicide mission, if she had to be frank. She had done this before, perhaps, to a lesser extent during their Initiation training, yet being launched off a cliff was a much less perilous task than what she would have to do now.

But there was no other alternative. Yang was counting on her. Yang trusted her. Her partner trusted her to do this, for god knows what reason.

"Hold on tight," ordered Blake. Her face was pale, but it showed no sign of indecision or fear. She walked towards the edge of the small island, farthest to which her two feet would carry her. The water sloshed underneath her boots, and for a moment, she saw a flash of teeth, and black shadows huddling in circles below the water, a foot away from where she stood. She sucked in another breath, steadying her partner as well as her stance.

She moved back a couple of meters, granting herself a nice kick start. Then, Blake broke into a run, moving her legs as fast as she could- She leapt high above the black murky waves. Wind swished through her hair as Yang pressed her body closely to her own. They descended, falling down, as quickly as they had jumped through gravity.

One second.

Two seconds.

Blake kept her glowing amber eyes locked onto the surface of the water. A second or two, or else they would both be dead; she would have to coordinate this perfectly.

As soon as she felt the tip of her right foot break the water, Blake concentrated her aura; her semblance flared up at once, tired but active. Her shadow manifested for a short existence, leaving Blake with the chance to jump again, taking off from where she had left a moment of her presence.

She sore upwards again, nearly reaching the top of the cavern. This would work; Blake's breath hitched, in disbelief at her own strategy.

One second. Two seconds.

A shadow after shadow. She lunged forward.

The small island faded into the black abyss they had left behind. The water extended endlessly, as she imagined, far longer in range than she would have hoped.

More and more as she traveled forward, Blake began to see that this had been a death sentence from the start. There was no end in sight, and even with her night vision, all she could see were pillars of rocks and stones. The island was gone now, and changing direction would prove difficult, even if she could find her way back somehow. The moment her aura depleted, she would fall alongside Yang, and the Grimm would take their bodies to the very bottom of the lake. She could practically hear their clattering teeth now, rattling violently as if waiting for one inevitable mistake.

The ceiling grew lower, narrowing her vision as she advanced.

A second.

Another shadow.

A second.

Another shadow.

She leapt, covering much less distance than before. Exhaustion was beginning to creep into her, prodding upon her already aching muscles and bones.

"We're not going to make it," a melancholy voice reached her ear; Yang's head hung loosely by her shoulder. "I'm too fat."

"No- You're not. I was – joking – before," she huffed in reply, breaths cut shorter with every step. "I promise. I can-"

Blake couldn't finish her sentence, gasping as the side of her head smashed against the stony wall; pain coursed through her like lightning, and Blake slipped, feeling the air leave her as she waited a moment too late to jump. Half of her leg sunk into the water and she felt vicious movement surrounding them through the ripples. Her semblance reacted faster than she ever believed, primal instinct taking over as the panic settled in afterwards. She barely escaped, dodging an agitated Grimm, which tore through the stomach of her latest shadow decoy.

"Don't worry." She heard just in time. "Leave the rest to me, Blake."

Yang had said this with such reassurance that Blake, for an instant, believed her, spellbound by her partner's voice, which came to her like a hopeful whisper through the darkness.

Then, Blake regained her sense, hearing the familiar clacking sound of a weapon. She made her final jump, sensing the absence of her aura as it completely depleted. A hard object scratched past her ear; Yang slowly raised her right arm.

"What are you-?"

An explosive gunshot cracked into the night, as loud and raw as a storm. Shock waves reverberated throughout the cavern, trembling through the walls and the large body of water.

For a split-second, all was still and quiet. Then, the earth began to quiver.

The damage had been done.

Yang was certifiably insane.

She was insane. She was insane. She was insane!

"Damn it!"

Blake tried her best to dodge the shower of rocks from above; the cavern appeared to be at the verge of collapsing. Large pieces of boulders fell down below, reminding her of their own fate if she did not hurry. She used them as stepping stones, leading her through the disarray. There was a large crack that Blake saw through the chaos, a passageway along the wall that was wide enough for the two.

They squeezed through, just in time as an enormous part of the cave ceiling crashed behind them, smashing into the waters. The place shook violently, and Blake's legs finally gave, colliding with the ground floor, accompanied by Yang, and her colossal mane of thick golden hair.

She heard another explosion above her, and the earth shook from the aftermath of Yang's reckless actions; Blake coughed, trying hard to stand when her ears picked up on the sounds of heavy rainfall. Rapid droplets of water, echoes of rain, closer than ever before. She raised her head, pupils dilating as she found a tiny fissure. She could almost smell the damp scent of trees on the other side.

"Yang!" She choked through a cloud of dust. "Up there!"

There was no way of communicating, properly, what she had meant, but Blake trusted her partner in blind faith; and sure enough, there was the flash of Ember Cecilia, whirring above their heads.

Blake did not wait a second longer; she didn't even hear the third explosion, grabbing Yang, pulling her closer somehow amidst the jumble of dirt and stone. She fumbled for her own weapon, lunging Gambol Shroud into the air in hopes of anchoring it to something- anything. The ribbon tightened around her wrist and they sore upwards with momentum.

A fresh burst of oxygen greeted them as they dropped back onto the ground. The rain now beat on top of them, droplets as thick and heavy as hail. It burned a few parts of her, sinking into the coat of grime and blood on her face and limbs. Blake tried to even her breaths, hardly moving as she felt a clump of wet moss licking the back of her neck.

She finally released Yang from their embrace; the blonde moaned momentarily, before rolling away from her stomach.

"Are we dead?"

"…No."

"Did we almost die?"

"I think so."

Blake found no energy to rejoice in their survival, neither physically nor vocally. There was still a slight tremor in her spine; Blake wasn't sure if the earth would give away and the entire ground would collapse and swallow them whole. If it did, this time she wouldn't have any strength left to protect Yang, much less herself.

She laid there, inhaling and exhaling, shutting her eyelids as she listened to the fall of rain, the deep rumbles of thunder, and the same uneven breathing coming from her partner.

Reluctantly, Blake opened her eyes again, battling through pain and soreness as she turned to look at Yang. The blonde was right next to her, mouth hung open, eyes closed as well. Her arm was still unnaturally warm, against the wet surface of Blake's skin.

Then, there it was again, that tremor, greater than it was when she first noticed it. This time, it was accompanied by a loud, inhuman screech. Instinctively, Blake sat up, slowly and stiffly in fashion. "What was that?"

Yang let out another deep groan, rolling onto her sides before being able to push herself up. "What's what?" She slurred out a mirrored question.

By then, Blake had already found her footing, albeit shakily, as she made her way through the swampy grounds. The fog had grown even thicker during their time stuck in the cavern, and the sun had already set, creating a rather unsettling, ominous mood. Wild vibrations ran right underneath her feet, egging her closer and closer towards the roaring sound of a running torrent. She arrived at the foot of a large wooden gate, about five meters high.

It was a dam.

There was a deafening boom, causing Blake to jump backwards in alarm. She bumped into Yang, who made a small "oof" sound as she had followed from behind.

Another boom, and a shrill cry rang into their ears. Cracks began to run alongside the wooden panels, water squirting and trickling out from the tiny breaches. Blake froze in belated realization. The sound hadn't been coming from underground; it had been coming from the other side of this wooden wall... And whatever it was, the dam wouldn't be able to contain it for much longer.

"We're going to need a bigger boat." Yang laughed, before collapsing on top of her once more.


	53. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 5)

"Should we get going then?" Ruby had asked in a barely audible whisper. Weiss concurred without much thought.

Little was spoken since then.

In silence, they walked out the door. The fog had thickened, swaddling the town in a vast ocean blanket. It was lifeless and pale, roaming through the fields like a wandering ghost.

They took a total of ten steps when Ruby stopped dead in her tracks.

Weiss turned to her, puzzled, but she soon heard it as well – a pair of distant footsteps in the rain. Soon enough, a large figure came pounding up through the fog, its breaths sounding heavy and fatigued. Ruby tensed, hands instinctively reaching for her weapon.

"Is that…?" Weiss narrowed her eyes, watching as the shadow grew in color and form.

It was Blake, panting unevenly, with Yang slung over her shoulders.

"Oh my god, Yang!" Ruby sprinted over to them at once, a flurry of rose petals stretching behind her path. "Blake! Are you guys okay?"

"What happened to you two?" Weiss demanded of them both, though relief had been the first emotion to run through her veins. They appeared safe, but nonetheless exhausted. Weiss wasn't sure what to make of the situation, catching the sight of Blake's tattered robes and Yang's sickly demeanor.

"It's a long story," Blake said through gritted teeth, losing her grip on the blonde as she slowed down. Ruby caught her wobbly sister by the other arm, steadying her with utmost concern.

"It had better be a good one after all the worry you've put us through," Weiss huffed, uncrossing her arms as she, too, helped carry Yang back into the hospital. It was difficult, as the blonde stirred in her sleep, surprising the others as she refused to vacate Blake's side.

"Back off, Weiss," Yang said, waking with a low and callous tone. "That's my wife you're talking to."

There was a slight lull in the air as her words sank in.

"...I beg your pardon?" Weiss finally asked, her finicky mood dissolving at the sight of Yang's solemn expression, far too serious to be a joke. Blake, in the meantime, looked close to dropping everything and running away.

"Uh…" Ruby also blinked in confusion. "What did you just say, sis?"

"She needs to see a doctor," Blake mumbled an excuse, leaning against a wall as she tried her best not to pass out on the floor. "I don't know what's wrong with her. She's been acting very..."

Blake didn't finish her sentence, unable to describe just how painfully awkward and frustrating the past couple of hours had been with the blonde.

"Was she bitten by the Grimm by any chance?" Weiss inquired, once she could finally tear her eyes away from Yang, who collapsed onto the nearest mattress.

"Yes, but..." Blake appeared perplexed by the question. "How did you know that?"

"Well, apparently, an important piece of information was left out of our debriefing," Weiss recounted sourly. "The fish are venomous… That's probably why she's been acting all funny."

"They're what?" Blake fell forward, resting by Yang, who mumbled something incoherent into her pillow. "Is she going to be okay?" Her voice quivered with concern.

"I- I think so. It's hopefully nothing serious," replied Ruby as she pulled out a clean cloth to dampen. She took a seat next to her sister, gingerly setting the wet towel on top of Yang's forehead.

"How's everybody doing?" A familiar voice interrupted their speculations. It was the doctor, reemerging as Ruby finished her last words. He wiped down his glasses by the front of his robes, placed them back over his nose, and his jaws dropped open in shock. "What happened in here?"

His widened eyes darted back and forth, between a weary Blake and an unintelligible Yang. Much more worried than before, he bent over Yang's bedside, checking her injured leg with an agitated expression. There were teeth marks quite visible along her inner thigh. He turned to Blake, a rather questioning glimmer in his eyes. "How long has she been like this?"

"A couple of hours, at the most," Blake responded, avoiding his gaze.

"The antidote won't be as effective then. It needs to be administered before the venom sets in," he said, briskly to himself. He stopped, midway of checking Yang's vitals, perhaps sensing the pair of prickling eyes on the back of his neck. He glanced up from his work, noticing the look of impressionable fear brewing on Blake's face, and realized his mistake.

"But that doesn't mean she's in any immediate danger," he added hurriedly. "She just needs complete rest in order for the venom to leave her system. I'll bandage her wounds for the time being."

There was an audible sigh of relief, as both Ruby and Blake sank down a few inches into their seats. They gave the doctor a few weak, but grateful, nods.

"What about you, Blake? Are you hurt?" Weiss had to ask after staring at Yang's nearly unconscious form, then at Blake, who was looking the worse for wear. There was a smudge of blood on the side of her face, clumsily smeared off by the sleeve of her jacket. "Seriously, what in the world happened to you two?"

"There's no time," Blake grunted. "I'll explain everything later. First, we need to start evacuating the village."

"Evacuate the village?" Ruby passed her a nervous glance, but it was Weiss who raced to ask the question. "What are you talking about?"

"On our way back, we came across an old dam upstream from here," Blake hastily put into words. "But it's not going to hold for much longer. There's a gigantic Grimm on the other side, and it's getting close to breaking through."

There was a shattering sound, as the doctor dropped one of his syringes. He gaped at Blake, acting as though she had said the unthinkable.

Ruby's eyes widened at the implication. "Are you suggesting that…?"

"We need to get everybody as far away from here as possible," Blake went on, face clouded with trouble as she tried for a plausible solution.

Weiss quickly understood the seriousness of the situation. "Is there an emergency shelter people can go to, in case of a flood?" She asked the doctor directly.

"There's a safe place several miles south of the village," he answered, taking off his glasses as he rubbed his eyes in vexation. "But you can't expect everyone to abandon their homes just because you _think_ there's going to be a flood. That dam was built by our ancestors! It would never break under normal circumstances!"

"I've seen what's on the other side of it," Blake made clear, behaving calmly despite the man's accusations; the faunus was used to suspicions in the past, and she understood them for the most part, but now hardly seemed like the time to be cautious of a stranger's words.

"It's only a matter of time before it breaks," she warned, addressing him, and then the others.

As if a decision had already been made, Ruby rose from her seat. "If Blake says there's going to be a flood, then there's going to be a flood."

"I agree. We should start an immediate evacuation process of the village," Weiss concurred as well, speaking to the skeptical doctor in a much more irrefutable fashion. "We were brought here to exterminate the Grimm. You trust us to do the job. Now, you need to trust us when we say that we are all in imminent danger."

The man remained in his seat, observing them as the seconds ticked by. He gave Blake a third look of some dubiety, but then his eyes bored in on Ruby, still clutching her sister's hand as she lay in troubled unconsciousness. The man sighed, rising from his chair as he pulled at the frayed edges of his thinning hair.

"…I'll see what I can do," he said, when he finally made up his mind.

Ruby nodded soberly, and they watched him pack up his supplies and leave, striding through the front doors with long, decisive steps.

"I'm sorry," Blake muttered, appearing progressively guiltier as the doctor left. "I should have done something about it when I saw…"

"Hey! There's no way you could have fought off a ginormous Grimm _and_ kept Yang safe on your back." Ruby squeezed her teammate into a tight, comforting hug. "I'm sure you did your best, Blake. Thanks for taking care of my sister."

Even Blake seemed to let her guards down for the moment, accepting her friend's warmth, despite the pain from her most prominent bruises. Weiss bit her tongue, growing serious as she studied the two's embrace. "Where is this dam?" She asked, when Ruby finally pried herself away from the faunus. "Is it close from here?"

"It was near the mountain by the riverside." Blake screwed up her face, trying her best to remember. "It's not too far. I think it was about a mile north of that lake we saw earlier."

"Okay, then here's the new plan," began Ruby in a new, level tone. "I'm going to go and secure the dam before it breaks. You guys stay here with Yang and make sure everybody evacuates the village in time."

There was a period of hushed silence, followed by bursts of utter disbelief. Both Weiss and Blake rose to their feet, shouting things along the lines of "Excuse me?" and "Ruby, no."

"I'll be quick." Ruby rolled her eyes, pulling up her hood as she made for the door. "Just keep each other safe, okay? We can't risk any more people getting hurt."

"Exactly," Weiss stated as she took a step forward. "I'm coming with you."

In return, Ruby sighed, a gesture that was not very Ruby-like at all. The red huntress passed her partner a rather significant look. "It's fine, Weiss," she said, sounding uncharacteristically offhand and indifferent. "Don't worry about me, okay? We're cool."

We're cool? Weiss mouthed the phrase back at her, as if it were the most absurd thing she had heard all year round.

However, before she could respond with a proper comment, Ruby gave her a short, perfunctory nod. Then the door closed behind her, leaving the room in a still, uncomfortable tension.

Weiss could practically hear the gears turning in Blake's head, and before the faunus could ask if the heiress had done anything to anger their friend, Weiss beat her to the chase.

"You heard her," Weiss said, clearing her throat and pretending as though nothing had happened. "Let's start evacuating the village."

"What do you mean?" Blake voiced her incredulity, regarding the heiress with a sharp, contemplative eye. "Shouldn't _you_ go after her?"

It was a sensible question, one that Weiss could not answer straightaway, at least not with proper logic. She began to form a number of rationalizations in her head. She was fully aware of the problem. Ever since their last conversation, Ruby hadn't looked in her direction, not even once to stare in, perhaps, angry accusation. Ruby was unhappy with her, Weiss had to presume. Otherwise, her partner's cold shoulder didn't seem to make an ounce of sense. But for what reason? There was no rationale in Ruby's decision either.

"Did something happen between the two of you?" Naturally, Blake had to be the first one to burst the bubble.

"No, of course not," Weiss said brusquely, not being able to contain her irritation. Blake raised a brow, carefully reading into her snappish reaction, making herself annoyingly hard to ignore.

"…I may have upset her," Weiss admitted reluctantly, looking over Blake's shoulders rather than facing those shrewd amber eyes. "But I'm not sure how or when."

She relayed the last few words she had spoken before Ruby's violent change in mood. They were friends, just friends. That was what Ruby had wanted to hear, was it not?

"It shouldn't matter," Blake argued, looking stunned that she had to be the one to convince Weiss to see reason. "You can't let her face the Grimm on her own. It's too dangerous."

"She's the one who insists on doing this alone," Weiss said obstinately. "I'm not going to follow her against her wishes."

Blake rolled her eyes, realizing that her friend was the one being childishly obvious.

"Then you can stay here with Yang," she declared, taking Gambol Shroud back into her hands. "I'm going after her."

"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss hissed, trying not to betray too much alarm in her voice. "You can hardly stand."

"I can still fight," Blake claimed. She flexed her arms experimentally, perhaps to prove a point.

"Oh, for the love of- Fine! I'll go," Weiss decided in a resigned voice. "I mean, I have no idea how to babysit Yang anyway. I wouldn't want to be here when she wakes up and finds out that her wife's gone missing."

Blake didn't even blink an eye at that. If she realized it was a joke, she didn't show it. She appeared much too tired for that.

"Just tell her how you feel, Weiss," Blake said in a kindly, patient way. It was so soft-spoken, Weiss nearly tripped over her own feet as she made her way to the front entrance.

It was simple, really, that was the most aggravating part of it all.

Blake was traditionally reserved, keeping much of what she thought to herself. Needless to say, whenever she did open her mouth, her words were like a cutting knife, swift and succinct, just enough to get the job done.

Well, message received, Weiss thought as she flinched inwards.

She knew; Blake knew. And yet, there was no way Weiss would make such concessions. Not here, and certainly not to her friend, no matter how perceptive she may be.

"That's- That's neither true nor relevant," Weiss spat before running out the door.

* * *

Weiss continued to hurry, not stopping until she was quite sure she had left the village behind. Panting, she looked behind her, her attention spiking as she heard loud bells ringing in the air. There were raised voices, growing in volume with every second. Panicked screams, feminine shrieks, and terrified voices reached her ears.

She tore her eyes away, soaring through the air again with the help of her glyphs. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for: the color red was easy to sight from above, Ruby's cape gliding beautifully between the ugly, skeletal trees. It was hard to rid the distance between them. It didn't help that her partner's semblance was speed. Weiss could hardly afford to slow down, hovering over the trees like the hawk. Once she finally got close enough, she saw Ruby's face, with red hair flying by her cheeks as she raced through the hallowed, sunken grounds.

The heiress lowered her rapier, dropping to the ground with a swift flick of her sword. She caught up to Ruby's right side in mute appeal. A sharp tingle ran through the side of her neck, knowing that her presence would have been noticed by now. Even so, her partner gave no sign of acknowledgement, determined to ignore the heiress for as long as possible. Growing equally stubborn, Weiss decided she would play no part in the act.

"So, what's the plan?" Weiss ventured on the liberty of asking her the question. "How were we planning on securing the dam?"

"…I don't know," Ruby replied, looking grim as she kept her eyes set forward.

"And the Grimm? How are we going to stop them from feasting on the entire town?" Weiss tried again, fearing that the conversation would unwind somehow if she didn't carry on the speech.

"I don't know that either," Ruby repeated, finally facing her partner with a genuinely lost expression. "What are you even doing here? I thought I asked you to help Blake with Yang and the rest of the village."

"Just because you're the team leader doesn't mean I have to listen to you all the time," Weiss asserted, still not understanding what Ruby's problem was. "I'm your partner. I have the right to stop you from getting yourself killed, just because you're angry at me over some trivial thing that I might have done."

"I'm not angry," Ruby clarified, in a kind of defiant growl.

"Then why are you brushing me off?" Weiss challenged her straight on, abandoning any sort of tact.

"Because!" Ruby blurted out, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "You're…confusing!"

Weiss considered this for a minute, lips pressing together with little comprehension. Ruby also stopped herself there, staggering away as if her own words had ricocheted back to her. It was bizarre. Her expression was bug-eyed and fearful.

They came to an abrupt halt when they reached an open clearing.

It was as Blake said. The dam stood several hundreds of meters away from where they were, veiled by the fog that was stealing in, filling the spaces between the trees through the deepening darkness. There was a roaring cascade of noise, echoing through the swampland. For a second, the rain and thunder seemed to render all of them silent, falling merciless and cold.

Be that as it may, none of it mattered for the present moment, not as Weiss stared at Ruby, who, in turn, glowered down at her shoes.

When Ruby finally lifted her chin, her face was turning red, wild and flushed. She followed those large silver eyes, like tracers in the night.

"Weiss, listen. I… I like you," Ruby said at length, both cheeks soaked with color. "I like you a lot and- Well, okay, maybe I haven't got everything figured out like you do, but- Even so, what I'm trying to say is… I don't know what I was thinking, okay? I don't know why I got so mad when you said that we were just friends. Because we are! But I just thought that maybe- I don't know."

Ruby paused her rant to bite her lips. At this point, Weiss wasn't even sure if Ruby recognized that she was still talking.

"I thought you were trying to tell me something," Ruby mumbled, then made a crestfallen sound. "I know, it's stupid. Maybe I was reading too much into things, you know?"

"It's fine," Weiss managed to say, her lips wearing a thin, ironic smile.

"No, no. It's not!" Ruby prattled on, obviously misinterpreting her partner's reaction as a sign of sympathetic pity. "I'm sorry for even bringing this up! I don't want anything to be weird between us..."

"No, Ruby. It's fine. It's okay." Weiss took in a shaky breath of air, praying to every kind of deity there is that she was not wrong about this. "I'm sorry I lied before."

"...About what?"

"About liking you as well," Weiss whispered even more gently. "I like you, Ruby, more than just a friend."

In a way, it was liberating, to finally get it off her chest. She wondered why she never did so before. Admitting the truth was so easy in retrospect.

Still, Ruby stood there for a paralyzing second, utterly stunned. It was cold, and the plastic taste of rain tore through the surface of her skin.

"Oh," Ruby managed to say, her quivers dying as she stood in the mud. Weiss smiled softly, having expected her partner to be this clueless, this awkward and transfixed. It was Ruby, after all.

"Are you… Are you sure?" Ruby half-pleaded, waiting for the heiress to admit that she was pulling her leg.

"Most definitely," answered Weiss, almost laughing at her partner's oblivious concerns.

"I thought you just wanted to be friends," Ruby murmured, deliberating over this new revelation.

It was ridiculous, Weiss thought as she looked at her partner in quiet wonder. "I thought that's what you would have wanted."

The two exchanged a look of understanding, grinning sheepishly at each other. There was a minute of silence as rain filled the hushed void. Weiss finally noticed how closely they were standing. Ruby was practically leaning towards her, the warmth of her lips inciting her in a maddening manner.

But...

Crack!

A loud snap resounded from the distance.

The euphoric sense quickly left them. Reminded of where they were, the two turned towards the roaring dam.

"Oh no," Ruby gasped. "We're too late."

There were long, giant fissures, starting from the center of the reservoir, spreading out from its core like a demonic spider. Water was beginning to gush out, spewing like an uncontrollable fountain.

"Weiss!" Ruby's strong voice grabbed her attention. She was waiting for her, weapon in position on the ground, eyes regaining their earlier resolution. "Ice flowers!"

The heiress nodded, raising her rapier as she summoned a familiar white glyph in front of Crescent Rose. They fired, shooting large ice-encased bullets. Ice fractals materialized along the dam, sporting randomly over the jagged lines.

"That was a close one..." With a breath of relief, Ruby began to recharge, danger averted for the time being.

A vivid, unearthly shriek took them by surprise. By instinct, they blocked their ears, wincing in pain at its deafening capacity.

"It's not working!" Ruby told her, hands still clutching over her ears in vain. Weiss watched as the whole earth shook, icicles falling apart as new crevices split and opened along the wall. The bullets were too small, she assessed, barely filling in the right circumference.

"Hold on!" Weiss shouted, thinking fast as she ran forward. The heiress jumped into the sky, target locked in position. She thrust her rapier into the wall, a clean stab through the linings of rime, water, and wood. White, glacial energy ran down her thin-blade, spreading and encasing the entire surface in gelid ice.

For a moment, it was silent in the marshlands. Sound was left vanquished: the voices from the village, the rain, and the Grimm's piercing cries.

Weiss lowered her rapier, taking a step back as she turned around in a carefully exercised manner. Ruby stood at the very same spot, still a couple meters behind her, but nonetheless staring at her partner in pure awe. There was a twitch to the corner of her lips, daring to dance to a sweet melody of victory.

And then, the wall behind her began to crack.

"Weiss!" Ruby hollered at her again, panic saturating her eyes. "Look out!"

It was too late, when the red huntress could finally move.

The heiress turned around, just in time as a blast of frigid water hit her, savagely tearing past her in gusts. The semblance in her refused to work, bent by a sense of odd forbidding. Nothing escaped the sensation of drowning, scent and sound lying forgotten as water clogged up her nose and ears.

The last thing Weiss saw was a large black shadow with two beaming red eyes, watching her through the distorted reflections of water and ice. The Grimm hovered over her in both width and length. Its jaws were opened wide, like a python ready to swallow its prey whole; rows of razor sharp teeth stood in multiple layers, drawing back and filling the creature's entire mouth cavity.

Her eyes closed shut. She was drowning. She had to be. There was an undeniable sinking feeling throughout her whole body. Then something hard plunged towards her, grabbing her harshly by the torso. Weiss felt a fresh slap of air as she resurfaced.

"Weiss!" She heard Ruby's voice ring in her ear, though it was still a bit muffled. "Weiss, wake up! Weiss!"

When she fully came to, she was being carried in her partner's arms, suspended over a sturdy tree branch.

"Hey…" was all she could manage to say before doubling over, coughing out mouthfuls of mucky water and heaving for clean air.

It was amazing how instantaneously her fear vanished, how suddenly security washed over her when she saw Ruby's worried face ogling down at her.

"What is your deal, woman?" Ruby fought to keep calm, though her voice still came out loud and shrill. "I'm supposed to be the one who comes up with the crazy plans, not you!"

"I guess you've somewhat grown on me," Weiss said, smirking as she shakily got back to her feet. The two exchanged a short glance of mirth. It paled, quite fast in comparison, as Weiss looked behind her shoulders. "Where did it go?"

The reservoir had broken apart, a gigantic hole left in its middle range. Water continued to pour out its entry, tearing down the marshes, eroding the mud as it swallowed everything it passed into its brutal swelling torrent. The water was thick and greenish-gray; broken bits of trees were swirling in the eddies, moving haphazardly over the boundary.

"There!" Ruby squinted her eyes, pointing her finger down at part of the flood.

A large black mass was moving quickly through the current. It had a protruding back spine, slimy skin, glistening scales, and a prehensile tail to follow. The Grimm screeched into the night, restless and ravenous, and baying for blood.


	54. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 6)

The flood had buried half of the houses, leaving only their rooftops untouched. There were a few old cypress trees with little foliage, twisting and coiling up by the rapid torrent. The main town square looked more like a river, streets lying below the turbid water, and pieces of driftwood, scraps, and debris floating arbitrarily around the block.

As the pair neared the village, Weiss cast another glyph, dropping them safely onto a part of the wreckage. Ruby took a moment to witness the sight, feeling almost surreal herself. There was a short exchange of dread, as Weiss appeared to share the same concerns. They examined the scene with scrutiny, searching for any signs of life. If Blake hadn't evacuated the village in time, then…

"Ruby, I see them!" Weiss was the first to break the silence, drawing in a long breath of relief. Her finger pointed to the farther section of the village. There were several figures moving on top of a large buoyant platform.

They ran a little more, reaching close enough to see Blake, and then the distinct silhouette of Gambol Shroud whipping through the night. She was with a group of people: the doctor, pale yet functional, the young man, still unconscious from before, two frightened women, and a toddler, clinging to the front of his mother's sundress.

"Blake! Yang!" Ruby gestured erratically towards them. "Are you guys okay?"

Yang was resting on her side, eyes closed and incapable of responding. At least Blake sensed Ruby's presence, her ears twitching at the sound of her name; she didn't seem to be fairing too well, despite the small thumbs-up she had signaled to them from across the flooded fields.

She didn't seem to notice, either, an inky shadow advancing towards her, stalking her quietly from underneath the moonlit surface.

"Blake!"

A loud crash ricocheted through the marshlands. It sent trembles through the water, and Ruby watched, aghast, as the Grimm finally showed its face, its head – huge and black – terrifying with its exceptionally large mouth, splitting all the way open to the linings of its jaws, presenting teeth as long and thick as kitchen knives.

Blake appeared to stumble, confronting the creature for the first time. There were several shrieks from those behind her, and the Grimm lurched forward, catching the smell of fear. It sported two forelegs, sized almost like toothpicks in comparison to the rest of its massive body. In less than two seconds, Blake was on her back gasping for air. The Grimm pinned her down with its tail, mouth widening, spilling over dribble and saliva.

"No, no- Hey! Hey, we're over here!" Out of panic, Ruby found herself shouting at the Grimm. Instinctively, she directed Crescent Rose at the monster's backside. The creature screeched once more, present in agitation. Its gleaming red eyes slowly turned towards them.

"Yeah, that's right! I'm talking to you!" Ruby went on, hurting her neck as she attempted to scream even louder. She launched another round, spurred by a sudden brilliant idea. "Come and get us! We're a lot tastier than them, I promise!"

"Ruby!" Weiss gaped at her partner, hissing more so than speaking. "What are you doing?"

The Grimm had now changed directions, showing off its nasty teeth and growling hungrily in their direction. It moved quickly, accelerating easily through the flooded terrain. Ruby passed her partner a look of utmost confidence, to which the heiress chewed her lips.

"I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Relax!" Ruby grinned, activating her scythe as she stood her ground. "I got this."

The red huntress counted down in her head, waiting for the Grimm to inch closer and closer. The water turned turbulent and chaotic, radiating ripples that swallowed each other whole.

"Now, it's time to…" Ruby raised her arms, just as the Grimm emerged from below, its mouth opened and menacing.

"Die!" Ruby hollered, striking down her weapon, pointed directly at the Grimm's head.

There was a dull, hard clang.

It was not the kind of sound Ruby expected herself to hear at the receiving end of her blade. She knew something was wrong, something was terribly wrong from the moment she brought down the tip of her scythe.

"Uh oh."

There was stillness on both sides. Ruby couldn't move, not with Crescent Rose stuck in between the Grimm's scales, having penetrated nothing but an inch off of its skin. It barely flinched. Red eyes flickered towards her, glowering with a dangerous craving for vengeance.

The Grimm pushed forward in retaliation, with Ruby attempting to keep its head below her own. She knew she was faltering, trying to keep her even footing. "Weiss, a little help!"

"Ruby, I _told_ you!" Weiss was by her side at once, sounding thoroughly exasperated. "Why do you never listen to me?"

She added that last part for good measure as if they were keeping track on some invisible scoreboard. Ruby didn't argue with her, although she believed that _now_ was not the right time to be pointing fingers.

With speed, Weiss jabbed at the Grimm's nostrils. It howled with displeasure, distracted enough for Ruby to slip away unharmed. The heiress poised her weapon again, this time directed straight at the Grimm's fleshy underside. As if noticing, the creature squirmed out of the way, hissing as it vanished before their eyes.

There was a wisp of black smoke, left behind as the Grimm dipped back into the water. It was too quiet, but Ruby could have sworn that's where it slipped away. She knew she shouldn't, yet Ruby had the strange inclination to check, tiptoeing closer to the edge as she peeked a look.

There was nothing there, just a few ripples echoing in circles.

"Uh… Weiss?" Ruby peered into the grainy dark, beyond the clarity of moonlight and the translucent water. "Where'd it go?"

Weiss didn't have time to reply. The Grimm made an inimitable cry, much louder, much closer.

Without a warning, a black force plunged out of the water. Its tail swirled around Ruby, squeezing a fraction tighter as her breath hitched; her feet left the ground in seconds, every part of her muscle losing its tension to the air. The tail squeezed around her, and Ruby felt her limbs resist uselessly by her side.

She could finally breathe again when the Grimm grew bored, hurling her across the field in such immeasurable speed. The world rushed by in a blur, sped up in sequence, and then became absurdly slow as she crashed. Her entire body erupted in pain, her back and shoulder taking the brunt of the fall.

Ruby raised her head and instantly felt nauseous. Though she wasn't bleeding, Ruby could feel the blood shooting through her veins, heart thumping violently in her chest. Her vision slowly returned to her. As Ruby blinked, two amber eyes peered down at her in concern.

"Are you hurt?" Blake appeared at her side, quickly scanning her for any injuries. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine…" Ruby groaned, rubbing her head as she was helped up to her feet.

"Did you get everybody out of the village in time?" She remembered to ask. There was a momentary silence, giving Ruby the perfect chance to clear her head.

"Blake?" Ruby asked again, with an increasingly urgent tone. "Did everybody make it out okay?"

"Most of them did," Blake said, at last, sounding slow and cautious. "I'm still on the lookout for any survivors."

"…Okay, then how should we-"

"Ruby! Blake!" Weiss broke apart their discussion, her voice shrill and high-pitched. They looked up to see the heiress in the distance, still standing where Ruby had last left her. She was staring at them, blue eyes full of alert. She was shouting as well, most of what she said drowned by the rushing sound of water.

"Get out of there!" They finally received the message.

There was little time to ruminate, as the platform underneath them tilted violently. The surface shook like a leaf, and this time the two knew exactly what to expect. They jumped off just in time as the flooring was torn, ripping into two halves as the Grimm's head reemerged.

They reunited with Weiss, moving onto a sturdier solid surface. The Grimm stayed close by, circling them until its next opportunity to hunt. The team fired at it in unison, each gunshot aimed at the creature to no avail. Their efforts ricocheted into the night. The silence returned, far thicker than it had been before the shots.

"This isn't going to work," Blake observed, sounding grim. "Its skin is too thick. Our bullets aren't big enough to break through."

"Not to mention it keeps hiding in the water whenever we get too close!" Weiss added fervently.

They took a deep breath, having to stop and think. The air turned raw, and something tingled from inside, all of their hair rising together in taut tension.

A strike of lightning flew past from above. There was an explosion, and for a second the sky was lit with light.

All three of them ducked, squinting their eyes as a neighboring watchtower perished, its old wooden structure scorching and crackling with a fierce electric current. The smell of burning timber stung their noses, though it rained without a cease, dampening the burnt ground. Ruby stared up at the clouds, then back at the remnants of the storm, her mind racing at maximum capacity.

"That's it," Ruby whispered, eyes glistening with sudden insight. "Wait, Weiss- That's it!"

The red huntress stood up at once, hardly flinching as fresh rolls of thunder passed over their heads. Weiss followed her gaze, appearing more terrified by her partner's delight than anything else. Blake stared at the both of them, utterly confused.

"Ruby, no." Weiss instinctively shook her head, grabbing her partner by the shoulder before she could run off and do some other incredibly crazy deed.

"No. Ruby- I know that look!" Weiss sharply accused. "No way! We are not going to risk dying tonight!"

Nonetheless, Ruby smiled at her, seeming hardly perturbed. "Don't worry, I have an idea. You trust me, right?"

"Of course I trust you," Weiss retorted at once, and then grimaced, realizing her own mistake.

"Then I'll be right back!" Ruby shouted, already sprinting towards the opposite direction, taking Weiss's answer as her permission to leave.

"Wait, Ruby-" The heiress screamed into empty space, where her partner had last taken flight. "Ugh, I hate it when you do that!"

"I can see you two made up," Blake said, sarcastically from behind.

"Oh, please. We did no such thing." Weiss scoffed, pretending to be nonchalant. "Just help me slow that thing down."

Blake obliged, watching Weiss's back as she produced a series of fractals from her sword. Towers of ice barricaded the water. It did little to cover the entire ground, and the Grimm moved faster, skillfully dodging the frozen edges of the current. Weiss reloaded her dust cartridge, a flash of annoyance crossing her face. She was prepared to continue but paused when she sensed something peculiar in the distance.

"…Help…!"

Weiss heard the faint voice, coming dimly through the fog. She stopped dead in her tracks, worried that she would soon recognize the voice to be Ruby's. By her side, Blake grew silent as well.

"Help! Somebody, please!" They heard it again, clearly this time. "Help!"

Blake's eyes snapped across the river, identifying the source of the sound. It belonged to a child.

A young boy was crying several meters away, hopelessly dangling from a broken tree branch. Blake could practically hear the bark squealing under the boy's weight. She swallowed thickly, working around what must have been a painful knot in her throat. He was too far. She would never make it in time.

Time, Blake thought, before setting into motion.

"Weiss, back me up!" Blake requested, just as she took off. Weiss turned her way, understanding perfectly as she concentrated on her semblance. A golden glyph materialized below Blake's feet. Everything slowed in her surroundings, and Blake felt the great rush of adrenaline greet her veins, sensing the leaves, droplets of rain, and branches, hovering and waiting in the air as she maneuvered her way through.

The boy held on for another second. A second, before dropping to his doom. Blake dove forward, snatching him in the nick of time as the world caught up to her as well; she landed onto a higher, broader branch, setting down the boy who seemed to be paralyzed with fear.

"It's okay. You're safe now," Blake told him with a mild tone. It took half a second, but the boy's face soon crumbled. In the next instant, Blake found herself in an awkward position, hesitantly rubbing his back as he wailed into her arms.

"Right…" Blake said slowly, attempting to gently pry the child away from her arm. "Um, stay here. I'll be right back."

He didn't stop crying, but it was the least she could say as she left.

The Grimm's roar summoned her back down from below. Weiss remained at the bottom of the river, managing to defend herself for the time being. The Grimm never lost sight of her, as Blake spotted its shadow lurking by the rim.

Weiss, however, looked much more disorientated. She pivoted around in slow circles, failing to see what lay below her own two feet.

"Watch out!" Blake realized she had shouted. Her voice rang oddly in the air.

Weiss turned to her, and so did the Grimm.

A violent noise cracked into the startled air, and Blake didn't need to look down to know that she'd been hit. She was knocked onto the platform, slackening her grip on the hilt of her sword. She heard a dangerous hiss, fatally close to her ears. Under the chill of the mist that spread over her, Blake fumbled for her lost blade.

There was no time as the tail retracted, bent in the same predatory stance. Blake raised her free hand, guarding herself with little aura she had left.

A single shot was heard, and the Grimm shrieked, its tail twisting and writhing as an explosive punctured through the bone.

When the smoke cleared away, it was Yang who stood in front of her, not Weiss.

The hero always seemed to drop in from out of nowhere. If the hero was a suitable word for Yang, who appeared positively murderous. Her hands curled into two enraged fists. Ember Cecilia was locked and loaded, set to fire again soon.

"Sorry, but she's taken," Yang growled, pounding her fists together in resounding anger. Her eyes were red, burning for blood.

"I'll eat you alive, you stupid, fat ugly piece of sushi!" The blonde charged forward, firing at any part of the enemy she could find along the way. The Grimm howled again, wounded, retreating back into the water as black liquid seeped through the mangled ends of its tail.

Yang didn't stop there. Driven by boiling rage, the blonde ran off into the dark, pursuing anything that moved in her path. She was soon gone, but her bellows still echoed through the air.

For a moment, Blake was frozen still, her mouth hung open with lips slightly parted. Weiss was beside her as well, also staring at Yang's turbulent character, equally as dumbfounded.

"Should we do something about her or…?" Weiss asked, conflicted between sentiments of concern and amusement.

Blake shook her head, driving Yang's exceptionally loud voice out of her ears.

"Just leave her," she told Weiss. Yang was still crazy, or at least half-crazy, but she would take a half-crazy partner over no partner at all.

Rolls of thunder began to draw nearer. The clouds shifted in direction. The Grimm gave another horrific, piercing cry. Its red eyes gleamed through the darkness in a slight sway.

"Guys!" A voice called to them from above. "Heads up!"

The pair looked up and quickly braced themselves; the rooftop shook as Ruby dropped down from the sky, rippling the water as she landed by their side again.

"I have a plan and I think it's going to work," Ruby announced, before either of the two could ask where she's been. "Weiss, can you help me lure the Grimm back towards the radio tower?"

It was an odd request, but the heiress nodded in response. Again, Ruby turned to her other teammate, with a similar expression of leadership. "Blake, can you make sure that nobody's left in the water by the time we get there?"

"I'm on it." Blake nodded as she slowly came back to her feet.

"Okay. Let's move," Ruby addressed her partner, and the two leaped towards another shambled rooftop, steadily working their way towards the tower that stood in the far background. They fired at the Grimm as they went, tempting its attention. It followed them according to plan, prowling restlessly through the night.

Blake watched them leave, gathering up her strength as she prepared for another round. She bent over to pick up her weapon, but a sharp pain lanced through her forearm. Blake winced, belatedly checking to see her skin starting to swell, turning bluish and grey in color. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead, but Blake hastily wiped them away, biting her tongue as she took Gambol Shroud into her uninjured hand.

From a near distance, she could hear Yang shouting something coarse, followed by explosions and a flurry of aimless bullets. Blake made a risky decision to follow her, a burst of speed coming from older adrenaline.

"Yang?" She was cautious when approaching, in case the blonde was too far gone to recognize between friends and foes. Her partner flipped around at the sound, eyes still a very vivid shade of scarlet. "Yang, it's me."

And that was all it took, Blake noted with surprise. All the violent anger seemed to leave Yang. She calmed down as quickly as she had exploded.

"Blake!" Yang beamed at her, the warmth of lilac returning to her gaze. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

Promptly, the blonde engulfed her in a passionate hug, straining her bones and nearly snapping her other arm in half. Blake was careful not to cry out in pain, trying to break free.

"I've been looking for you too," Blake played along, though still panting with leftover exertion.

"Really?" Yang said blithely, surprised but overjoyed. Her eyes twinkled far too brightly. The blonde smiled at her, showing off her pearly whites. "Then what do you say we pick up from where we left off?"

"No, Yang- We're, um… We're in the middle of…" Blake meant to say something well-reasoned, but failed to. Yang wore a rather vacant expression, happily ignorant as before.

The fish are venomous, Weiss had said. Blake needed to be patient; that was all.

"Yang, do you remember why we're here?" She tried instead. Her partner frowned in return. "We're here on a search and destroy mission, remember?"

It seemed to take Yang great effort to recollect her memory. She appeared largely disinterested in the matter, but the faunus waited for Yang to nod, and only proceeded once she did.

"Then..." Blake thought quickly on her feet. "Then how about we play a game?"

"What kind of game?" The blonde asked, sounding slightly piqued.

"It's a new training exercise." Blake quickly grabbed at Yang's curiosity. "We look around for any survivors and rescue them from any kind of danger. But we have to also make sure not to touch the water because that's where our enemies are hiding."

"So… We just avoid the water and save as many people as we can?" Yang posed, slowly considering the ground rules.

"Exactly." Blake grinned nervously. "And… Whoever saves the most people wins."

"And what do I get if I win?" Yang asked with a truly intense smile. It was endearing, and it wasn't like Blake was relieved, but she couldn't help but smiling too.

"Anything you want," Blake told her, in hopes of appeasement.

"You're on, Belladonna." Yang leaned in, almost head-butting Blake as she pulled their foreheads together.

"Because if I win, someone's going to get lucky tonight," she purred delicately into her ear.

Blake knew what she meant, quite clearly. The point was hard to miss.

She didn't say a word in response, not as the blonde sped off with too much excitement in her steps. By this point, it really didn't matter. Blake's sanity was already on the verge of extinction. Having answered to those terms, she sighed to herself, and said no more.

* * *

"So, now will you tell me what your master plan is?" Weiss asked in between the gunshots and the rush.

"Remember that old trick Nora did last year with her hammer?" Ruby explained with an innocent lift of her eyebrows.

Weiss paused, then her eyes widened in realization. "You can't be serious."

She didn't have a chance to quarrel. They arrived at the foot of the tower, just as Ruby had wished for them to be. The Grimm had hidden itself again, but they both knew that they had been followed. The same tingle of death stalked them through the moonlit night.

"When I give you the signal, keep the Grimm locked in position for five seconds," Ruby told her carefully. "Just five seconds and I'll take care of the rest."

Weiss opened her mouth, ready to retort or argue, definitely to point out that there was no way either of them would be able to pull off a stunt like that without the proper tools, the right preparation, and the calculation, and, well, Nora.

Nevertheless, the Grimm was closing the distance between them, as well as their time for conclusive talk. It was impossible to dispute the matter further. They were huntresses before they were anything else.

"Five seconds?" Weiss confirmed.

"Yup. A piece of cake, right?" Ruby made sure to jest. She acted altogether serious but never lost that happy-go-lucky spirit of hers in battle.

"Oh, sure." Weiss rolled her eyes. "It'll be a walk in the park."

Satisfied, Ruby was just about to turn around, but Weiss willed herself forward, grabbing her partner by the hem of her skirt. Ruby looked at her once more, confused.

"Just be careful," the heiress said in a quiet voice. She felt strangely nervous, watching as Ruby cocked her a brief nod of confidence.

"Cover for me?" Ruby asked, a pleasant smile breaking over her lips.

Weiss nodded back. "Always."

The heiress didn't look back, taking only a second to make sure Ruby was starting to climb up the tower's ladder. She saved her semblance, for the time being, sensing a large disturbance now that she was alone.

She stood on her glyph, feigning vulnerability as the Grimm edged towards her. It swam viciously, inching dangerously close. Weiss dodged the first attack, jumping and suspending above the water. She predicted the next assault and calculated its distance again. She moved further up into the air, allowing the Grimm to snap its teeth at her feet.

By the third count, the heiress moved with routine. The Grimm sunk deep into the river, biding its time before a higher bound. Weiss anticipated it, waiting and waiting in patience until finally, she saw its ugly head break out of the water.

The rain kept her tempo, falling evenly as she respired. Weiss jumped down as the Grimm rose into the air. She struck her rapier down, pinning the surface of the water as it frosted over, fashioning a large portion of the river into an icy pond. The Grimm crashed a foot away from her, denting the ice but not enough to break through. Its tiny legs wobbled across the slippery surface. Weiss smirked, priding herself over the plan. She took a second to look over her shoulders, watching with relief that Ruby had made it a third way up the tower.

The Grimm lunged at her, and Weiss quickly slid out of the way. She rotated her dust chamber, summoning thin red flames onto her blade. She stabbed at its thick suit of armor. It didn't seem to burn the Grimm as much as she hoped.

The rain harshened upon them, cutting at her power and mood. The Grimm soon picked up its lost speed, adapting to the frigid terrain faster than anticipation. Weiss kept up with its pace, driven by the promise of a quick return. She kept close to the tower, looking at Ruby as often as possible. She was nearly at the top now. Weiss had to hold on for just a little longer.

The route was becoming more and more difficult; the frozen ground was trying; ice and rocks were easily displaced and Weiss needed the most careful concentration not to fall in.

Calm down, Weiss commanded herself. She was a huntress. She did this for a living.

...Sometimes Weiss couldn't believe she did this for a living.

Crunch.

She heard the inexplicable sound, of ice giving away. Her stomach lurched and her leg sank deep into the river. She fell backward, perceiving the familiar cold splash of water swallowing over her.

Her fingers knifed through the current, pushing through the thick parting of liquid until her head bobbed out of the water. Weiss kicked furiously, crawling out of the hole before she had the chance to be fish food. The Grimm was waiting for her, drooling onto her head as she pulled herself out. She rolled over onto her back, thrusting her rapier up at its throat as its teeth descended towards her.

She seemed to have picked a sore spot; the Grimm howled, kicking away from her as it skidded across the ice. Its tail smashed at her from below, blindsiding her as it slammed her off course. Weiss hissed in pain, catching herself just in time before she was hurled off the frozen terrain. The Grimm didn't wait for her to recover, diving for her with its skull protruding. Weiss raised her hand, shielding herself with the force of a glyph. She stood her ground, shaking, trying to keep the foe from running back into the water.

Black clouds spread over their heads. Thunder roared in from the north. A streak of silver light split open the sky. Everything flashed in a white haze.

Weiss's attention snapped back to Ruby. Her partner was closing in on the highest level, stopping for the time being as lightning caught onto the tip of the tower's rod, electricity surging down its insulated spine.

The clouds rumbled again, seizing all the tension in the air.

"Weiss!" Her partner motioned at her from above. "Now!"

It was her cue. She swallowed audibly, her breathing beginning to pick up. Weiss ducked, evading the Grimm's last lunge at her head, as she sunk her rapier deep into the Grimm's tail. Ice exploded from her blade and surrounded the Grimm's slimy body. It flailed and shrieked, with a force strong enough to break the ice.

But Ruby didn't give it a chance to escape. She took a step back, eyeing the tall rod of metal with a look of utmost precision and care. She raised Crescent Rose into a perfect arc, and swung.

There was a clean cutting sound.

Ruby grinned in victory, watching as the long rod began to tilt, perfectly facing due south; the metal pole plummeted straight down, gaining in momentum. Weiss was lost for words as she stepped out of the way, gaping as the rod rammed right into the Grimm's backside. It made an earth-shattering cry, and Weiss backed away some more in alarm.

"Hey, Weiss!" She heard Ruby's voice again. She flipped towards the call.

Ruby was standing on the brink, her feet almost dangling off the tower as she peered down without an ounce of fear. Her arms were spread apart, her silver eyes glowing with limitless trust.

"Catch!"

And then, Ruby jumped.

Weiss felt her heart stop, her blood running cold. Her face fell, faster than the thunderous sound that followed. Ruby dropped into her arms, knocking all the air out of her lungs as Weiss caught her in a desperate embrace; there was no time to speak. By instinct, Weiss pinned down her sword between them, using the last of her energy source to case them in a thick cocoon of ice.

Then came the awaited crack of lightning. Boom! The shock rolled across the field, echoing through the current of water. They were blinded for a moment. And the ice cracked, only a second behind as it exploded in turn, hurling them across the field with the wind. They flew past several trees, landing in a heap of salvaged wreckage and mud.

There was a monstrous cry, as loud as the storm that brewed before. Then, it all fell silent, except the soft pattering of rain.

Weiss laid there for a long moment, hearing herself breathe in and out. She felt another heartbeat, fast but slowly easing, from beside her.

"…Ruby?" Weiss asked for a quiet sign.

"Yeah…" Ruby gave it to her, groaning as she stayed still on her back. "I'm right here."

Peace reigned for several minutes. Weiss wondered if she had gone deaf, but soon realized that the rain had now slowed to an end. Her eyes gradually opened, and they weren't foiled by that dreadful fog. She turned to her left, and her heart did a double-take as she made contact with Ruby, her insane partner, who had already been staring at her from a while ago.

"And which part of that seemed easy to you?" Weiss asked, feeling an old smirk trickle back to her lips.

"I don't know..." Ruby managed to grin. "But it worked like a charm?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Last part to come in the next chapter! Thank you for all the support.

Please read and comment below!


	55. Keep Me Company in the Night (Part 7)

It was not an encouraging morning. The world was still insipid and dreary, and water was dripping from the trees. Outside, the fog had thinned momentarily.

Ruby woke up in bed, not remembering exactly how she had gotten there. Her eyes opened, dull and groggy from yesterday's sleep. She found herself in an empty room, alone. Another bed stood across from her, its sheets neat and folded. With effort, she tried to sit up, beginning to recollect events from the past hour or so.

There was a storm. She had been at the tower with Weiss… And they had finally taken down the Grimm. Her memories turned into a blur from there.

"Good morning," said a voice, jarring her out of her thoughts.

Ruby looked up at the door and felt an immediate rush of comfort, finding her partner's sharp gaze. Weiss stood at the threshold, looking piqued but relieved, which was very much the norm these days. At once, the heiress was by her side, offering her a cup of lukewarm water.

"Whoa…" Ruby moaned, feeling a wave of nausea as she reached forward to take it. "What's going on? Where are we?"

"Don't move," Weiss chastised her somewhat softly, helping Ruby as she took small gulps of fluid. "You have a mild concussion, which is hardly surprising after what happened last night."

"What? Oh." Ruby gently massaged the back of her head, sensing it to be very sore and delicate at the moment. "Yeah, that would explain the headache."

"We're currently at the emergency refuge center," Weiss patiently filled her in with the details. "We managed to evacuate the entire village here. The mayor and I just finished the final headcount and fortunately, everybody's accounted for."

"And what happened to the Grimm?"

"You blew it up, remember? Along with the rest of us," Weiss told her, and Ruby made a sheepish grin, reminded of the deafening rolls of thunder and the terrible flash of lightning that had followed. It had been a memorable evening indeed.

"You collapsed after that, so I had to carry you back here," the heiress went on, sounding incredibly displeased. "Blake's recovering as well. She's nursing a badly broken arm. And Yang's finally back on her feet. I never thought I'd come to say this, but I'm glad she's her normal self again."

That was a pound full of information to process, with a whole migraine still settling in place. Ruby nodded slowly, steady in understanding. She must have been wearing an odd expression as Weiss leaned in, blue eyes watching her for any signs of distress.

"Are you okay?" She faced a quick interrogation. "Does your head hurt? Should I call the doctor for you?"

"No, no! I'm just happy we all made it out okay." Ruby beamed after a short period of pondering. "That was some crazy first mission we had."

"I'll say," Weiss responded in a matter-of-fact way. "When we return to Beacon, remind me to sit you down and have a nice chat over the sort of precautions to take before racing off headfirst into a thunderstorm."

"Uh… Are there such precautions?" Ruby asked tentatively, doubting that there was any sort of safety measures in place for people who wanted to climb electrical towers in the middle of a raging typhoon.

"That's not the point," Weiss said nonetheless, becoming increasingly more peevish. "One wrong move and you would have been worse off than the Grimm. What if I was too late? Or if the lightning bolt had hit you instead? We're talking about serious, life-threatening injuries here, Ruby!"

"Yeah... Well, you helped," Ruby reasoned rather poorly. This fact, albeit true, only seemed to rile up the heiress even more.

"Just because I helped doesn't mean I have to feel happy about it. I was worried sick!" She disclosed, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits of accusation. "This event will be going on the blacklist by the way."

Weiss was referring to a long piece of parchment she kept hidden in their bedroom drawer. It was in alphabetical order, categorizing the many specific things Ruby Rose was not permitted to do during their years at Beacon Academy. Once or twice a month, Weiss threatened to have it legitimately publicized as a warning.

"Gosh, that list's going to be a hundred pages long by the time we graduate," Ruby complained, counting down the number of fun activities Weiss had killed in the name of welfare. But regardless of this possibility, Ruby had to giggle at her partner's alarmist concerns. "Wow, the Ice Queen really must like me, huh?"

"Oh, so _now_ you notice," began Weiss in an offended voice.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know you liked me, you know, in that way?" Ruby defended herself. "You can be really hard to read sometimes."

"Yes, well," Weiss swallowed another fit of irritation, recomposing herself as she continued, "I'm sorry I can't be as conspicuous as Yang."

"Where is my sister by the way?" Ruby inquired, noticing the blonde's lack of presence in the room, as well as the absence of their cat-eared friend.

"She went out looking for Blake," Weiss replied, her lips curling in interest at the thought. "I imagine it'll be a long conversation, especially after what they've been through."

"Uh oh." Ruby laughed in between. "Man, I would not want to be Yang right now."

"Agreed." Weiss nodded accordingly, picturing Yang as she tried to explain things over to her newly beloved "wife."

The image had been a good distraction, easing themselves into relevant affairs, but there was not much to comment on after that. The two were quiet for a bit, both staring, ruminating in communion. It was clear that there was some other issue the pair would like to discuss, bidding time before finally acknowledging that now was the best time to converse in absolute privacy.

"So… Should we talk about what happened between us?" Ruby started, fiddling with her thumbs. "Like, are we…together now? Like together-together or…"

Weiss grimaced, deciding that Ruby had been spending way too much of her time with Nora.

It awfully sounded like she and Ruby were about to have "the talk," as the rest of the world phrased it. She was raised as a Schnee though. Weiss wasn't supposed to waste her time with relationships and other such frivolous diversions. She wasn't educated in the field of romance.

"I don't know," the heiress replied, feeling strangely defensive. "I've never actually done this before."

It was easiest to admit this in front of Ruby, who would have understood her better than anyone else she knew.

"Me neither." She grinned at her. "I was kind of hoping you had the answers to everything."

"I certainly don't have them for these type of matters," Weiss huffed. "Besides, I'm not always right you know."

"Yeah right!" Ruby openly scoffed at her. "Try telling me the same thing during our next exam week. It's always 'I'm right about this' or 'you're wrong about that.' It's like listening to a broken record."

"Well, perhaps I wouldn't be as harsh if you learned your lesson and stopped procrastinating all the time," the heiress pointed out through gritted teeth.

"No thanks," Ruby declined straightaway. "You've got your wacko study schedule and I've got my own code of last-minute panic to live by."

It was hard not to mock this.

"I'm not even going to try and argue with that logic," the heiress sighed as an alternative.

"That's what you always say," Ruby gave a discreet cough, "and then you go ahead and tell me off anyway."

"I do not-" Weiss stopped herself short of a sentence, realizing she was being sucked into another childish argument. "How did we even end up here? I feel as though we were talking about something important for a change."

"We were!" Ruby smiled respectively. "But I asked you the first question and you still didn't answer me."

Her partner seemed to be strategically patient with her. Certainly, there was something abnormal about the matter.

For weeks, Weiss had been trying to tell Ruby how she felt, especially after wasting the summer getting over the idea that she did – in fact – care for Ruby in that sort of manner. It was a grueling process, something she didn't want to get into at the moment. It was stored away in a deep corner section of her brain, never to open again unless she was mandated for therapy.

When she managed to tell Ruby the truth, it had been because Ruby reciprocated her feelings. And at first glance, this was good news. And yes, Weiss was happy. Perhaps she was happy…for the first thirty-eight seconds. Then, her mind whirled into wild conclusions, beginning to realize what sort of chaos she had caused by admitting her feelings of irrationality.

Had she even envisioned herself dating Ruby Rose? That hadn't been part of the agenda at all. Weiss simply wanted to spend time with her partner, as much as she possibly could. There was nothing unreasonable about that. After all, they spent almost every day in each other's company, mostly to bicker endlessly with one another...

"We're already together, in a way, seeing as we lack any sort of obvious boundaries." The heiress waited a long minute more before answering slowly, unsure. Ruby was still smiling at her, which she took as a healthy sign.

"But I suppose it would be nice to be more than just your partner by official terms," Weiss said truthfully, adding more in hesitation. "Unless you don't want to. In that case, I would need to hear your side of the story."

"No, no, you're right." Ruby rubbed her temple with her thumb, playing with a little chuckle at her throat. "I mean, I have no clue how to do this, believe me. You're my best friend and everything. It's totally weird...but cool. So, yeah. I think the whole official thing sounds nice. It'll be fun to give it a try."

She seemed to mull over the idea, acting relatively content with herself.

"Um, so how about we go outside for a walk? I kind of want some fresh air," Ruby claimed as she carefully slid out of bed. Her hand, somehow magically, found its way between Weiss's fingers. At this, the heiress assumed an expression of great discomfiture, to which Ruby simply laughed, wearing another one of those guiltless smiles.

"Wait… Is that all? We're done talking about this?" Weiss felt oddly cheated as if the entire process had been exaggerated inside her head, paling in comparison to the real deal.

"I thought we were?" Ruby frowned. "Sorry, did you have anything more to say?"

"I mean, in case I wasn't clear enough- I like you, Ruby," Weiss reiterated, refusing to believe that it would be this easy to have established a rapport. "I'm not so sure if I necessarily love you or not, but I do like you. I like you a lot more than I like other people."

Ruby gave her a funny look, heeding as she smiled crookedly at her.

"As ridiculous as this may sound, I need to make sure you understand what I am saying here. You understand, right?" Weiss leveled herself with Ruby, straining to reflect the gravity in her eyes. "Nod once if you understand."

"Gee, I think I got it." Ruby nodded back teasingly, amusing herself over Weiss and her roundabout way of affections. "And I love you too, partner. Even if you're, like, super high maintenance."

* * *

Blake was brooding by the riverside, the water now calm after the short deluge. She had been staring hard at her rippling reflection, mirrored in the murmuring waters. Her ears bent forward, listening to the trickling stream as a wind blew from across the current. Her eyes meandered around, sweeping her gaze over the scant bushes and trees that stood away from the creek. It was daresay peaceful. A welcome distraction after the busy turn of events.

There was a slight disturbance in sound, in the form of thick boots sloshing against the mud. Blake glimpsed over her shoulders, noticing a figure that was ill-suited among the broken trees. It looked away when noticed, and so did Blake, figuring that her partner would approach her when she felt the need. It didn't take long for her to hear muffled footsteps rustling from behind, hesitant and offbeat even in rhythm. They stopped once, moved again, and halted twice, settling at a spot a few feet away from her own.

"Hey, Blake." Yang greeted her at long last, peering down at her with softened eyes. "It took a while for me to find you."

Blake met her gaze, begrudgingly nodding for a moment, before turning her attention back towards the river.

"So… What are you doing out here?" Yang asked as she found a dry slab of dirt to sit on. "Fishing?"

Blake allowed the joke to pass unanswered. Her partner picked up on the mood quite quickly this time, sitting in silence for a minute as she considered a different path to venture.

"Is your arm doing any better?" She tried again.

Unimpressed, Blake gave her a sorely sardonic grin, holding up her left arm, which had been wrapped into a thick white cast.

"…Right." Yang bobbed her head at a slow pace. "So, that would be a no…"

The faunus shrugged in acknowledgment, caring less about her injury than she should. Most of her aura had recharged since last night, and while it would take some time to recuperate, she knew she would be making a full recovery soon.

"Um, Ruby should also be awake by now," Yang decided to change the subject once more, redoubling in her efforts to proceed. "I heard how she blew up a tower and fried up the Grimm. Pretty crazy, huh? I can't believe I missed all of that."

There was yet another uncomfortable pause.

"I left her with Weiss so that they could talk things over," she went on, voice now peaking in mild astonishment. "By the way, did you know that Weiss has a thing for Ruby?"

If Yang hoped to send her thoughts in a new direction, then her plan worked marvelously. Blake felt a pang of disbelief, having no choice but to stare at the blonde in open amazement.

"What do you think?" She arched her eyebrows, daring her partner to reconsider the question.

"Fine, you probably figured it out ages ago. But I literally just found out," divulged the blonde, as if she, the older sister, didn't know what to make of the situation yet.

"Yang…" Blake let out a tiny half-hearted laugh, shaking her head at her partner's lack of sensibility. "How unobservant can you be?"

"Hey! At least I noticed it before Weiss said anything!" The blonde smiled broadly, then seemed to catch her uneven breath. She twiddled her thumbs, deciding to take this brief period of mirth to finally get to the point.

"Anyways… That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Yang brought up the obvious. "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

Blake frowned, sobering up at once.

"Is it because of something I did while I was uh...? You know, sort of unconscious?" The blonde posed carefully, trying hard to read her partner's expression.

"I don't know," she replied, sighing as she promptly retreated back into a sulk. "I'm not sure if I'm even mad at you."

It was a complicated emotion. Blake felt unhappy, maybe even a little forlorn. She had no idea where it transpired from, except that it resided with Yang somehow. Ever since she managed to tuck Yang into bed last night, with a minimal amount of touching she might add, Blake had been strategically avoiding the blonde all morning.

"What did I do wrong?" Yang asked her, being as pitiful as she could. "I can't apologize if you won't tell me what happened."

What had Yang done wrong? The list could go on and on.

"Well, you called me kitten several times," Blake said the first thing that came to mind. "And you really liked to touch my ears."

"Wow." Yang looked like she was ready to kneel on the ground, aware of how sensitive the issue was to the faunus. "I'm really sorry about that. You know I would never treat you like that, right? Even if your cat ears are adorable."

Hearing Yang's apology didn't make her feel any better, mostly because that hadn't been the real reason for her foul mood at all. Blake's face screwed up in thought before she gave an almost sheepish look. It was more or less petty of her to mention this when Yang had been quite so delirious to be herself.

"You also called me your wife," she added in a quiet tone. She felt the accusation was a mistake as she was uttering it.

Yang's face turned significantly crimson as she was reminded. Her mouth formed the word "oh," but she didn't speak it out loud.

"Right, uh, Weiss might have mentioned that a bit," the blonde mumbled awkwardly. "And… I'm sorry about that too."

Yang smiled apologetically; her eyes though had regained a curious sparkle as they stared into hers. "But you know I would have totally meant it, right?"

"Meant what?" Blake questioned, slightly taken by surprise.

"Asking you to be my wife," confirmed Yang with an impish grin.

"...Actually, you never asked me," Blake blurted out without thinking.

The blonde seemed to take this to be a great offense, her jaws dropping open at the mere thought. She tucked in her uninjured leg, getting down on one knee as she felt for Blake's hands.

"Blake Belladonna…" Yang began, fitting in dramatic pauses and appearing painfully earnest. "Will you be my-"

"What- No!" Blake shouted, mortified. "Yang, I wasn't asking for a proposal!"

The blonde feigned an expression of great dismay. Blake growled in return, pushing her partner aside with a powerful jerk.

"Honestly, I can never tell whether you're joking or not," Blake said in a deep undertone, too tired to be indignant. She had stated this countless times before to no avail. Her words felt like an empty vessel, lacking a real destination.

"I'm never joking, babe," said Yang, as she gave a lavish wink.

"Yang, please," Blake snapped. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you if it is at all possible."

That was a rather sharp remark, and Blake – after hearing her own tone of voice – was about to retract when Yang, conceding, nodded her head.

"I know," she agreed. "I'm sorry."

The blonde still grinned at her, but her gestures were quickly subdued as if she didn't want to cross some invisible line. Yang's eyes were the same hue of lilac, warm and caring, but her demeanor was strangely demure.

In hindsight, this argument was bound to occur at least once during their four years of partnership. Yang had always been somewhat of a flirt. Blake knew this because everybody knew this. That being the case, if Blake were smart, she wouldn't be taking anything the blonde said to heart.

Even so, there was always a side of her that invited in more, second-doubting each pun or anecdote for some ulterior meaning. She hated that part of herself. And she disliked Yang for reminding her of it each time.

"Come on, Blake." A small pleading broke her reverie. For a moment, Yang looked sincerely concerned, fearing as though what she had said resulted in some irreparable damage. "You can't stay mad at me forever."

"I can try," she said dryly.

"Listen, I know you don't like it when I joke around and stuff," the blonde weakly explained. "That's just how I usually express myself, you know? If I went all serious on you then… Uh… It wouldn't seem right."

Then Yang came over to her. She came up very close like she were on the verge of doing something more than mere words. She stopped herself fairly soon, deciding to pull Blake in by the shoulder instead.

"Since I know how much it bothers you, I'll try to be more outright with you from now on," Yang assured her. "But if this whole 'Blake, you're my wife' fiasco didn't open up your eyes to anything, then I don't know what to tell you."

The blonde bowed her head, sparing the faunus from having to witness her show of emotions. "Because, in case you haven't noticed already, I'm kind of into you."

That was a tad more candor than she hoped to receive.

Speechless, Blake sank in deep reflection, deliberating over the unfairness of it all. How unjust it was to feel the words escape from her without fail, somehow slipping away, stolen as she tried to talk, or even as she did nothing but sit there, staring into the tenderness of Yang's gaze. Her eyes were uncharacteristically solemn; the lack of mirth was startling to get used to right away. And yet, for the consequent second, an irrepressible happiness flooded her. It felt safe. It felt right.

"Oh." Blake felt incredibly stupid for a change. "I thought... I thought you just enjoyed teasing me."

"Sure, your reaction is a big part of it." The blonde easily succumbed to this fact. "But that doesn't mean I'm not being real with you."

At Blake's reticence, Yang said nothing more. After her outburst, she had begun to tug at her hair, a nervous habit she seldom sported.

"See?" The blonde professed with a pout. "I'm bringing down the mood by being all serious."

"…It's worth it sometimes," Blake told Yang, whispering in genuine gratitude. She smiled to herself, now letting her head rest comfortably on Yang's shoulder. Her partner's skin grew a little warmer, this time in moderate embarrassment than of a fever.

She risked the chance to look up and saw that the blonde was avidly avoiding eye contact, choosing to squint away at some far-off bushes. She waited for a second, checking to see how distracted Yang was. When she didn't respond, Blake inched forward and kissed the side of her cheek.

It was quick but affectionate: a gesture she found she had always wanted to do.

A noiseless alarm went off. In an instant, Yang was holding the tingling spot on her face, rubbing it in disbelief as she opened her mouth to retort.

"You- Uh… That was… You- What?"

She was not very articulate, to say the least. Blake teased her with no words, privately enjoying the fact that it had been her turn to render the blonde silent for once.

"Wait." Yang paused at the sudden realization, her lips spreading into a wide smile. "Does this mean you're not mad at me?"

Ultimately, Blake smirked, when she couldn't stand it any longer. "No more than I usually am."

"And… Is this your way of saying yes to my proposal?" Her voice sounded too hopeful. It was supposedly charming.

"It's a maybe." Blake hummed. "We'll see how it goes."

They drew in a long breath of satisfaction and excitement. She didn't say any more, but Blake's always been unusually communicative in a reserved manner, and Yang understood that she meant a great deal more than what was verbally spoken.

"Good grief," a disgusted voice drawled from behind. "Are you two still acting like a married couple?"

It was Weiss, as one would expect, greeting them with her cutting wit. She was the same as usual, although the trouble had undoubtedly left her eyes. Ruby was by her side as well, standing unusually close to the heiress, more so than the Ice Queen would allow her to do in the past. They seemed much happier, less antsy than the last time Blake had seen them. She could only figure that this meant good news.

"Why, hello there," Yang returned, looking lazily and amused from one to the other. "You sound a bit jealous there, Weiss. I hope you weren't planning on jumping the gun with my baby sister. It's too soon to be hearing wedding bells!"

Weiss passed Blake a withering stare. "If you don't shut her up, then I will."

Shaking her head, she was about to explain how nothing was sacred from Yang's humor, but Ruby interrupted them instead.

"Hold that thought, guys," the girl said, holding out her buzzing scroll for the rest to all see. "Looks like I'm getting a call from the school."

They recognized the words 'Beacon Academy' flashing on the surface of her device. Promptly, they huddled around their leader, curious as Ruby connected with the other line.

"Miss Rose." It was Professor Goodwitch. As usual, she appeared profoundly unhappy. "I just received your team's latest report from Mistral."

Weiss turned to Blake and Yang, who were similarly confused.

"It says here that you faced an unknown Grimm specimen, and though your team managed to contain the situation…" Her voice made a sharp turn here. "Your actions resulted in a flood that damaged half of the town square, risking the lives of several innocent civilians and resulting in a few minor injuries for your team. Now, is this all true?"

There was a moment of fearful silence.

"...Okay, so maybe there were a couple of obstacles along the way?" Ruby stalled, trying to come up with a proper excuse. "But, um... At least nobody died?"

Weiss, not so subtly, thumped her partner across the back.

"I mean- At least we dealt with the Grimm infestation, right?" Ruby changed her words, fast, glancing around nervously at her teammates for support.

"Next time, would it be possible for your team to dispatch the Grimm without causing a mass destruction of public property?" It was a rhetorical question, much more terrifying when asked by Professor Goodwitch, accompanied with her impenetrable glare.

"We're deeply sorry for the mess, Professor." Weiss swept in for some crucially needed damage control. "We will absolutely take that into consideration for the future."

"Yeah! We'll totally be taking that into consideration, exactly." Ruby maintained her hopeful, unimpeachable smile, which would break anyone's resolve if engaged with for too long.

Eventually, their professor let out an exhaustive sigh.

"Well done, students," she informed them, according to protocol. "Please report back to Beacon to receive your next assignment."

Then, the screen went black before any of them could let out a breath of relief.

"When did you send a report to the school?" Weiss rounded on Ruby, as soon as the call was finished.

"Uh… A couple minutes ago?" Ruby replied hesitantly. "While we were taking a walk?"

"That's what you were doing?" The heiress stared at her partner, in half-disdain and half-accusation. "Fine, I can overlook that. But did you really have to report _everything_ back to the professor?"

"What? I was being honest," Ruby argued with integrity.

"Precisely!" Weiss deplored. "She'll never trust us with anything ever again!"

At that, Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but how much did she really trust us to begin with?"

"Be that as it may, unlike you, I happen to have an impeccable academic record," Weiss shared, with a hint of pride in her voice.

"So… It wouldn't hurt you to be taken down a peg or two?" The blonde offered her consolations.

"I'm sorry," said the heiress, tonelessly. "Do you not understand what the word impeccable means?"

"Come on, guys! Let's not fight!" Ruby squeezed in between them, arming her sister and her partner into an embrace. "Not when we just finished our first solo-mission as a team!"

"Of course," Weiss said waspishly. "After all, why should we celebrate by upholding tradition?"

"What are you talking about?" Ruby snorted as if her partner was being the silly one. "We only fight when you're annoyed at us, and that's pretty much every day of the week. It's way too normal to call it a tradition."

"To be fair," responded Weiss whilst scowling, "I am never annoyed without good reason."

"Hmm…"

"What do you mean by that 'hmm,' Ruby?" The heiress began to raise her voice. "Whatever it is, I demand that you take it back."

"I can't take back a hum!" The red huntress flailed her arms. "It doesn't mean anything. It's a sound people make!"

"Ah, an early lover's spat. Way to go, sis," Yang congratulated Ruby from behind. "And F.Y.I. Not my fault."

"Yes, this one is entirely Ruby's fault," Weiss concurred with the blonde for once.

"Um, hello? I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Nobody did anything wrong," Blake finally intervened, forcing all of her friends to snap their mouths shut, commandeering their attention with her deadpan voice. "Could we please drop this and go home?"

The remaining three exchanged a short glance with one another, and most of their stress melted away into a series of playful laughter.

"Aw, Blake. You always know how to keep us in line," Yang said humorously, linking her partner by the arm as they moved in direction of the shelter.

"Team RWBY, ready to head back to Beacon!" Ruby announced, stringing along Weiss by the hand, who reluctantly agreed to file this argument for future references.

They spent their subsequent hours of waiting by assisting the refugee center, helping set up tents for people who had lost their homes, distributing supplies and offering to clean up the wreckage from the flood.

The mayor and the rest of the villagers were surprisingly optimistic and forgiving. Yes, half of their homes had been destroyed by the flood; this was an undeniable fact. Nevertheless, most civilians thanked rather than blamed them, suspecting that if the flood were to happen anyway, it was incredibly fortunate to have been in the presence of four excellent huntresses in training.

In the end, the time came when they were due to leave. An aircraft had been sent from the school to ensure their safe and fast return. It landed a mile away from the swampy terrains of Mistral, which would be a painless walk to take. As they set out towards the main gates, Ruby surveyed the village for the last time. The water was beginning to slowly recede. Ironically, the initial odor had cleared, and the smell was almost soothing to the senses after a storm.

A few fish carcasses still floated above the water; several shadows of Grimm twitched underneath the sunlight, not yet disintegrating into fogs of black smoke. If there were any more trouble, the townspeople would be sure to alert them again soon.

"So..." Yang turned to the group as they left the scenery behind. "I'm starving. How does everyone feel about having sushi tonight? Blake, you still a fan of tuna?"

Ruby chortled. Even Weiss had to laugh a little at that joke.

"No, Yang." Blake groaned in defeat. "I don't think we'll be eating any fish for the time being."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

This is the end of this AU! I apologize for spreading it out for so long.

I plan to return, hopefully with another story soon. I still have several different chapters I want to write out this year.

Thank you for the reviews, I always appreciate them!

Until next time, stay tuned.


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